Taking Over Me
by Danni-2005
Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom. Book Three of the Fallen Series. COMPLETE!
1. Prologue

**__**

Taking Over Me

Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.

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Prologue

You don't remember me but I remember you.

Sam shoved the two young boys to the ground next to an above ground grave. The twilight was setting in making shadows elongate and hiding nearly impossible. She couldn't believe this. Danny had finally snapped. That was the only way she could think of it as. He was mad at her for leaving, mad at the Carter's for taking her.

She pressed the seven-year-old's back into the cold stone that surrounded the grave. He whimpered slightly as she sat down next to him. Curling up as small as she could make herself, forcing herself to ignore the fact that this probably wasn't good for the child. She pulled the four-year-old into her arms. "How long do we have to stay here, Sam?" she heard

one of them whisper.

She looked over at Ryan. "Till it gets dark, Ryan. Then we'll go back home and get the car. Think you can stay quiet that long?" The seven-year-old nodded.

Blake whimpered and buried his head in her shoulder. "I don't like your friend. He's mean."

Sam closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "That's not my friend."

"Than who is he?" asked Ryan, disbelief clear in his voice.

Sam fought back the pain that came with thinking over the last twenty-four hours. "I don't know. But he's not Danny. He can't be." The tears welled up in her eyes, but she fought them back. She was the adult now. She had to convince everyone that everything would be fine. Crying was not going to accomplish that.

The part of the sky that they could see continued to go darker. "I think we lost him," Ryan breathed excitedly.

"Oh I doubt that," a cold voice whispered and Sam felt fingers clamp down around her neck. She clawed at them but she couldn't touch them. "Handy new power, Sam. I can touch you but you can't touch me."

"Stop?it," she choked out, while concentrating on shoving Blake behind her.

There was a cold cruel laugh that could never have come from Danny. The ghost boy appeared in front of her, eyes shining with malice, casting a strange shadow over his high check bones. "Hey, Sam." He squeezed her throat tighter. "How are we doing."

She gasped for air and heard something in her neck pop. The edges of her vision swam as her thoughts got fuzzier. This is it, Sam thought haggardly. I've lived through everything to get killed by my best friend.

**__**

The prologues short, even for a prologue but last epilogue was two hundred words longer than it should have been so it evens out. Hehe. If you're_ confused, don't worry. You'll figure it out as you read along._ Thanks to all the reviewers on the Epilogue for Imaginary: Mrs.DannyFenton, getfuzzyfan04 x2, Medisti x2, autumngold x2, audi katia, Fox of Light, Lady Ashanya, Mrs. Granger-Weasley, q.t a.k.a spice, RainbowSerenity x2, YAY!!! x2, The Good Girl, Moody Maud x2, AngelicxDeath, Lightning Streak, Storm Sword, RavenForever, Sakura Scout, CoLdPLaYeR813, Aeris9919, Samster The Hamster, darkmonkey, Wind Cat, and Incrediblecuznz. You guys rock! 


	2. Chapter One

**_Taking Over Me_**

**Summary:**** With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.**

**Rating:**** PG-13 for mature themes and language.**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.**

**_Chapter One_**

**_I lie awake and try so hard not to think of you._**

**_One Month Earlier._**

Danny lay face down on his bed, trying to muster up his concentrations so he could study bio-genetics unit in Bio Two. Only two weeks into school and Danny was managing to pull a low C. Tucker was pulling though with a borderline B or C so he didn't understand it much better than Danny did. Tuck was just better at guessing.

Danny was so desperate for help that he was honestly at the point where he was about to ask Jazz. Strangely it wasn't the big things he missed about Sam. It was the littler things. Homework help, calling her when he was bored, the way she would just sit and listen to you. None of which Tuck excelled in.

He lifted his head, sighing as he stared again at question four of the section review. This was always his worst one of the six questions, application to physics. Danny let the book fall backwards onto the bed. "Forget physics. I'll be lucky if I survive Bio II and Chem."

He glanced over at the clock. He had been stuck on this problem for almost twenty minutes. Sam would have just nailed it instantly. Tuck would have figured out how to throw out a bunch of nothing in away that it would sound like the answer. He was sitting there staring at page 57 wondering how he would survive sophomore year.

He dropped the book. "Forget it. I'll ask Tuck in the morning. " He swung himself off his bed and went to his computer. He double clicked the connect button and closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. It'd been a month since he had seen Sam wave goodbye from the train and he missed her terribly. They emailed each other every night, regardless of whether they had instant messaged each other or not.

It was hard hearing about her new life. She had made two 'acquaintances'. Amanda sat in front of her in American History II and to the right and up one in World Lit. Danny didn't mind Amanda. He'd talked to her on the phone and when she and Sam were working on their slide show on Homer for World Lit. She seemed really nice. In fact she had added Danny to her MSN, in case something was wrong with Sam she could let him know.

It was Chris he was worried about. A senior in High School, it blew Danny's mind why he would be interested in a pregnant, fifteen-year-old, new girl. But Amanda had kind of implied that it wasn't for her personality. He was worried about Sam. Part of him said that she was smart enough to know what she was getting into. The other half of him said that he was a creep and it was his job to make sure Sam didn't get hurt.

His MSN logged him in automatically. First he checked to see if Sam had emailed him. Above his contacts it said 'No new messages'. He made a slight face before glancing at who was on. Tucker was.

He double clicked and typed 'hey' in the message window.

He waited a few minutes and Tuckers display switched to away. Danny rolled his eyes and looked back at his Bio II book. He went back and started rereading the chapter. Three pages into the section he found where they talked about genetic coding. It still didn't help him much as it was one of those questions where you had to 'apply what you've learned with intuition'. Danny hated these.

He let his head fall forward onto the book. He stared at the letters that were out of focus because of his close distance. He wasn't sure how long he stayed like that, thinking about nothing and everything at the same time. His eyes had drifted close when he heard the little chirp sound that meant someone had signed in.

He glanced over at the screen as an instant message appeared.

'I hate little brothers! says: Danny!

Danny says: Sam! What's up with the name?

I hate little brothers! says: Ryan and Blake found my journal today. I'm lucky they still read at a Doctor Suess level. They've never seen the word die before in their lives probably.

Danny says: And exactly how many times is that word in your diary?

I hate little brothers! says: … A few, nothing worth worrying about. So how are things on the ghost front?

Danny says: Two box ghost encounters, one little one that didn't even last long enough to tell me his name if he had one, got a new power but nothing really fascinating. So how is foster life?

I hate little brothers! says: I've decided every parent on the face of the world is incompetent. I noticed today though. I think of Ryan and Blake as little brothers but Everett and Tammy will never by my parents. But that makes no sense. Maybe I'm just the only person in the world that thinks like me.'

Danny grimaced. He hated this. He couldn't see her face or hear her voice, couldn't tell when she was joking or being serious. He quickly entered just a little smiley face. The only thing he could do was hope he wasn't guessing wrong.

**_We may have some technically difficulties with this book. My Windows 98 has finally bit the dust. Meaning I'm now on a Windows 3.0 until further notice. I may be able to wrangle up a 95 that I can borrow but I don't know yet. And niether one of those have internet access. So I'm paying a dollar per chapter to get them up at the library so I know we all love faster updates but we'll just have to see. But I would like to thank all my wonderful reviewers: AngelicxDeath, gothmiko, Shadow Sakura, PyroDragon2006, Ryo's destiny, MrsDannyFenton, Faith-Punk06, Wind Cat, q.t a.k.a spice, getfuzzyfan04, Spice of Life, autumngold, KittenGoMoo, darkmonkey, Lady Ashanya, Angels624, Silverflare07, Storm Sword, Rainbow Serenity, Medisti, Mrs. Granger-Weasley, Sakura Scout, audi katia, CoLdPLaYeR813, Fox of Light, OSparrow, MayB, The Good Girl, The Fuzy Llama, Aeris9919, Moody Maud, Kagome51, Raven Forever, and Samster the Hamster. Sorry if I misspelled anyones name. The library computer won't let me copy and paste so I had to type them out by hand. Thanks for everything._**


	3. Chapter Two

****

Taking Over Me

Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.

Chapter Two

But who can decide what they dream, and dream I do.

Sam shut her locker, trying to ignore the whispering group of Junior guys that were standing across the hall from her locker. She kicked it out of sheer habit from last year. The lockers at Township High were much nicer than the ones back at CHS. But she would have given anything to have one of those crappy old lockers, down the hall from Danny and Tuck.

She had always thought that moving would be hard, but to come into a new place without any family and pregnant branded you for life. The rumors were starting to get amusing if they hadn't hurt so much. The latest one was that she was having an affair with some married man and his wife had found out. His wife had sent out a hit man to take care of Sam and that's why she was running.

Sam shook her head slightly as she turned the corner. Sounded like some bad new thriller novel. She pulled open the door to American History II. She walked over and dropped in her seat. About twenty-seconds later, Amanda walked through the door. She actually reminded her a lot of Paulina appearance wise. Personality was dead opposite, though. Amanda was the class sweetheart. Nice to everyone, always smiling, a shoe-in for homecoming court attendant.

"Hey," Sam greeted as Amanda dropped her bag and kicked it under her chair. "How has your day been?"

Amanda shot her an exasperated look and dropped her head onto the desk. "I have homework in _every single_ morning class. How not fair is that? And to top it off I have basketball tryouts tonight!"

Sam grinned. "That's why I've never played sports."

"You're smarter than I am," Amanda smiled back at her as the teacher stepped up to the front of the room.

The hour passed quickly. Sam took notes when she thought Mr. K was staring at her. The rest the time she doodled. She drew a little ghost wearing Tucker's hat. She smiled down at it before staring blankly out the window. At this point all she wanted was to go home, and by that she meant Amnity Park.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Carter's were quickly turning out to be a very stereotypical 1950's family. 'Dad' was married to his job, mom doted on her children and was over bearing when it came to being affectionate. They had a Dalmatian, named Spot, and a white cat named snowball. They even very literally had a little picket fence around there house with the hunter green shutters. The perfectness of the whole thing got to Sam and she probably would have lost her mind if it hadn't been for Blake and Ryan.

Ryan was the oldest. At seven years old, he was a menace that Dennis would have been proud of. He couldn't go five minutes with out breaking, staining, or generally ruining something. He had already mastered his demonic smirk as well as his little angelic smile. With light brown hair and green eyes, he was at his absolute cutest when you were just about to dish out punishment.

Blake reminded her so much of Danny personality-wise it scared her. A shy little boy that took time to open up he had an adorable little grin and an absolutely infectious laugh. He had a slightly odd sense of humor and a tendency to need to be cuddled when frightened. Sam often found herself wishing that her baby would turn out like Blake.

"Sammy! Wait up!"

She rolled. Speak of the devil and he shall come. "Catch up, Ryan! And for the millionth time, it's Sam."

The little boy jogged to a stop next to her. "Your name can't be Sam! That's a boy's name. You're a girl." He said as if explaining things to a small child.

"It's a name that works for either boys or girls. Some boys are named Sammy."

He looked up at her disbelieving. "Nah-uh."

"Yeah-huh." Sam tried to think of the last time she'd said yeah-huh.

"Nah-uh times sixteen."

Sam grinned down at him. "Times sixteen? I guess you win then."

Ryan let out a little 'Yipee' and darted off ahead a few feet. Sam sighed. She tried to remember when Danny, Tuck and her had been that small. Second grade seemed like a near eternity ago. Before Danny had got his ghost powers, before anything had happened to her, even long before Tuck got glasses. She could hardly remember day to day life back then.

She remembered when they went to a boys and girls group look-in and all of three of them got home-sick and sat up almost all night taking about there families. She remembered that at Tuck's birthday party he didn't want to give her any cake because she had cooties. She smiled faintly at the memories.

She missed being seven, when life was so simple. No homework, McDonald's was a five-star restaurant, and candy was better than money because you could eat. When nobody cared whether your best friends were both boys or not. Nobody put anyone down and if they did they came back and said they were sorry they hurt your feelings.

Eight years later nobody would care if you were hurt. No one would care if you were broken and alone. It got harder every year and the sad thing was that there was no way to change it. Eight years later, you could be raped get pregnant and you're class would call you dirty names that you wouldn't have even known when you were seven. It was amazing how people could change.

Suddenly, Sam felt terribly alone; no friends at the new school, miles away from her best friends, and no one to help her out. She briefly wondered if word would even get back to Danny and Tucker if she killed herself. There would be nothing they could do. No way they could saver her. This was her nightmare now, and there was no one to wake her up.

****

Yesterday my local library decided that it was time to bring it the future. You know what they did? Replaced all the floppy drives with zip drives! You know how upset this makes me? Cause I don't save on zips, I (like the rest of the world) save on floppys. But luckily my local college is letting me use there computer lab in the business department. Which I had to pull strings to do. But guess what? They have a no log-in policy! I can't get on to my account! So I called a computer guy and payed almost my WHOLE BLOODY PAYCHECK to get my piece of crap computer working again! My lifes about as complicated as my character's at the moment. I want to thank all my great reviewers for this chapter: gothmiko, Spice of Life, **_Hwoarangsguardie_**,**_ autumngold, Wind Cat, Rabid-Tortise, Lady Ashanya, Silverflare07, Medisti, IceSugarHigh, KittenGoMoo, darkmonkey, CoLdPLaYeR813, Kagome51, YAY!!!! x2, Sakura Scout, The Fuzy Llama, Moody Maud, Fox of Light, Ryo's Destiny, audi katia, q.t a.k.a spice, MayB, The Good Girl, Mrs. Granger-Weasley, getfuzzyfan04, RavenForever, Rainbow Serenity, AngelicxDeath, and Samster the Hamster. You guys rock my world._**


	4. Chapter Three

**__**

Taking Over Me

Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.

Chapter Three

I believe in you.

Danny kicked the rock again and watched it skitter down the sidewalk. He could feel Tucker staring at him in concern. He knew Tuck was concerned, his family was too. But this was something Danny had to deal with by himself. "You sure your okay, man?"

Danny glanced sideways. "Yeah, I'm fine. Nothing major." The lie hung between them, both of them knowing that's what it was but at the same time neither acknowledged it.

"She's not dead, Danny. We're going to see her again." Tucker finally said uncertainly.

Danny glared at the rock and kicked it again. "I know she's not dead. And I'm not _always_ thinking about Sam," he bit out, despite the fact that he had indeed been thinking about her.

"You need to stop dwelling."

"I am not dwelling, _Tucker_." Danny opened his mouth to say something more, instead shivering as the little cloud of ice blue breath he was so familiar with appeared. He bit back a wave of irritation.

Tucker instantly glanced all around. "Your clear," he said contritely. It was much harder for him to cover Danny without Sam there. They'd sort of thrown caution into the wind. There wasn't much the two of them could do short of running till they found somewhere he could change.

Danny took a deep breath and cleared his mind and felt the change kick in. "If this is just the box ghost, I'm going to kill him," he muttered.

Tucker laughed nervously. "Not that he isn't already dead, being a ghost and all."

"Don't care," Danny said with a glance over at Tucker. Tucker glanced over at him and screamed. Danny glanced over his shoulder expecting something to be there. There was just the side of a building. "What?"

Tucker opened his mouth a few times and shut it, his eyes wide. He lifted a shaky hand and pointed at Danny's face. "Your…your eyes."

"What about them?" He stared at Tuck, who was just sort of opening and closing his mouth. He was about to reply to that when suddenly there was a crash behind them and both boys spun. There stood volture, trademark for Vlad Plasmius. "Great," he said softly to Tucker. "This one's easy."

"Fancy-pants ghost boy! I gotta message for ya." the vulture called perching on the top of a streetlight.

Danny glared up at the bird, green eyes narrowing giving him an almost possessed look. "Tell Vlad I don't care what he wants to tell me."

"He just wants to wish you luck on your passage. From the looks of it you're not fairing too well." The bird's New York accent think making him slightly hard to understand.

Danny darted up into the air next to the ghost. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"That's for me to know, and you to desperately guess at," he cackled.

"I don't have to put up with this," Danny bit out. "Tuck! Thermos, please." There was no response. The bird laughed and Danny glanced over his shoulder. Tucker was gone. Danny flew back to where Tuck had been standing. "Tuck! What did you do with him!" Danny screamed furiously. He was getting really sick of losing friends.

The bird cocked his head to one side a cruel sort of look on his features. "I didn't do anything. If you want my oppinion _something _probably spooked him. I will give you a hint: A good look in the mirror wouldn't hurt." With that he was gone. Just literally vanished. Danny muttered darkly before going invisible and taking off towards his house.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Danny phased through his bedroom wall and dropped lightly onto his bed-room floor. The darkness in the room made it all to easy to see the little flashing button on his answering machine he hit the play button. He flopped down onto his bed. Tucker's voice broke the stillness. "Uh, Danny, sorry that I just kinda split like that. I had to get home and all. Talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

Danny couldn't ignore the guilty twinge. He slammed down the delete button with more force than necessary. "Great," he breathed to himself. "I've lost Sam and now I'm losing Tuck." He sat there for a moment, staring down at the white boots that came with this curse.

This was what he had been trying to avoid since the accident. That's why he told Sam and Tucker, he didn't want to risk losing them over lying about it. And he hated facing things alone. Now what was he doing? Sitting in his room alone, in the dark, and friendless. He hopped up off and kicked the post at the foot of his bed. He glared of into the darkness.

He was about to go back to being just plain old Danny Fenton when he caught the pale reflection of himself. The unnatural glow that accompanied being a ghost hovered around him. His skin was darker and his hair was the chalk white it always was in ghost mode. He kept stepping closer though not daring to believe what he saw.

He glided over to his mirror and stared at the reflection that stared ever to eagerly right back at him. His wide terrified eyes were still green. But creeping towards his pupils from the outside of his iris was a ring of dark crimson. The same hauntingly red eyes associated with every evil ghost he had ever encountered.

**__**

Dun, Dun, Dun. And the plot thickens. If you can even call what we've had up until this point plot. Oh well, sigh. Thanks to all my fabulous reviewers: KittenGoMoo, Ryo's destiny, WormmonABC, The Fuzy Llama, Hwoarangsguardie, Kagome51, q.t a.k.a spice , Sakura Scout, RainbowSerenity, Osparrow, autumngold, Shadow Sakura, Spice Of Life, Moody Maud, MayB, Incrediblecuznz, RavenForever, Mrs. Granger-Weasley, Wind Cat, IceSugarHigh, and Fox of Light. You guys all deserve cookies!


	5. Chapter Four

**__**

Taking Over Me

Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.

Chapter Four

I'll give up everything just to find you.

Danny stared open mouthed at himself and felt terror wash over him. "No," he whispered. "No." He stared at himself unblinkingly, crimson of the reflection burning into his vision. He closed his eyes for a moment, counted to ten, and opened them again. Staring back at him were the neon green eyes that he had always associated with being spectral.

He sighed. Tucker must be right. The stress of not having Sam around was getting to him. He wanted that to be true. But if that was the truth, why had Tucker run away? Why had the ghost told him to take a good look at himself? Something was definitely wrong here.

Danny changed back dropping lightly to the floor with a muted thud. He walked over and dropped onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. He cleared his mind and closed his eyes. He was dwelling and everyone knew it. Everything was getting harder for him. Eating and sleeping were becoming two things that were happening less and less.

Amanda told him Sam was doing well all things considered. She had good grades, she was starting to put on the weight that came with being pregnant, and she was starting to smile and laugh more. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy. He wanted to be the one making her smile and laugh, he wanted to be her lab partner and assure her that she didn't look fat, which she was complaining about. It wasn't fair. He'd gone through everything with her and now some total stranger was the one holding her hand through it.

He opened his eyes and rolled over scooting forward until he could reach around to get under his bed. He felt around blindly until he felt the edge of an old shoebox. Sam and him had organized it together while she was staying here as something to do so they didn't have to think. He pulled it up onto the bed and ripped the lid off, casting it away.

Inside were countless envelopes. At certain intervals were index cards standing up, labeled in Sam's flowery cursive. The first one was entitled Kindergarten, the last one emblazoned with 'Freshman Year'. He ran his finger over the first three sections of envelopes before pushing them forward. He looked through the third grade envelopes reading each title to himself. Halloween, Sam's Birthday, Tucker's Birthday, Misc., Christmas, He finally found the one he wanted. Our first sleepover/Danny's Birthday.

He pulled it out and gingerly pulled out a roll and a half worth of pictures. They hadn't planned on having an overnight but Sam's dad had been in an accident and while it hadn't been bad, he had stayed overnight to be monitored. His parents had taken her home, helped her pack a bag and let her stay in Danny's room with him for the night.

Considering the circumstances, the two of them had gotten away with murder. They'd eaten almost all of the rest of Danny's birthday cake, jumped on his bed for almost an hour and stayed up to ten-thirty, an eternity to two kids who had an eight-thirty bedtime. He pulled out a picture of him and Sam taken while they were trying to eat the whole cake. They had got into a frosting fight and both their little grinning faces were just coated in it.

He grinned at the image they made tired, yet on a sugar high, leaning on each other to stay upright. Both of them grinning, standing in their PJ's. His a little pair of blue sweats and Sam in a little tank top that was light yellow and pale green Pajama pants with Yellow butterflies on them. Her hair was up in high pigtails at the back of her head, reminding him very much of how she wore it now.

He wished she was here now. Being the one he could lean on so he could stand. He had no one. He rubbed his thumb gently over her little face in the photograph as if just by doing that all the icing would magically be gone. Tears welled up in his eyes. The part that he remembered vividly was lying there talking till they fell asleep.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Danny closed light blue eyes, exhausted. "Danny," came the soft whisper, almost hesitant. He opened his eyes and looked over the edge of the bed at his best friend in a sleep bag that almost swallowed her tiny form.

"Yeah?"

She blinked up at him, lavender eyes sparkling in the light given off by the little nightlight on the wall. "We're gonna be best friends forever right?"

He slipped out of bed and sat down Indian-style next to her. "You bet!"

"Even when we grow up. Like in high school or when we get really old?"

He grinned at her while she pushed herself up onto her elbows. "Sure! We'll be best friends for ever and ever!"

Sam looked contrite for a moment, looked up with pleading eyes. "What if bad things happen? Like a car crash with my dad, 'cept what if that's one of us?"

"We'll still be best friends. Even if bad stuff happens, I'll always be here okay. I pinky promise."

Sam shifted her weight of her elbow and linked her small finger with his. She gigled as they shook on it. The both jumped as they heard the footsteps coming towards the door. Danny jumped into bed and closed his eyes yanking the covers up to his chin. Sam rolled so that her face was away from the door. Jack poked his head in the door. "I thought I told you kids to—" he trailed off upon seeing the two 'sleeping' nine-year-olds, one of which hadn't even been nine for a day yet.

The door eased shut and both of them waited a split moment before giggling. "'Night, Danny."

He leaned over and stared down at amethyst eyes. "'Night, Sammy."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Danny blinked back the tears looking at a picture of the two of them sitting on the sleeping bag leaning against the bed, taken only minutes before that conversation. He couldn't help the wave of guilt that washed over him closing his throat. Now they were in high school, and something had most definitely gone wrong. He'd let them take her away. Danny started slipping pictures back into the envelope. In that moment he decided something. If Sam couldn't be with him, he was going to be with Sam. Tomorrow, he was going to go find her.

**__**

Another chapter, another happy little flashback. You realize we haven't had one of those since three chapters into Hello? Oh well, we have one now. Thankies to everyone who reviewed this time: Rabid-Tortise, RainbowSerenity, autumngold, Spice Of Life, The Good Girl, Wind Cat, Sakura Scout, Silverflare, gothmiko, getfuzzyfan04, Kagome51, Hiyume, aeris9919, Coldplayer813, Fox of Light, Mrs. Granger-Weasley, audi katia, MayB, Moody Maud, RavenForever, and KittenGoMoo. Power to the people who review!


	6. Chapter Five

**__**

Taking Over Me

Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.

__

Chapter Five

I have to be with you.

The thunder crashed again and Sam squeezed her eyes shut. She used to have been a storm person, before she was raped during one and almost committed suicide during one. Now they just brought back haunting memories, things she didn't want to have to face alone. Another streak of lightning flashed and she curled up further into a ball, mindful of how much stress she was putting on the baby.

She glanced around her 'room'. She had a bed, a dresser and a rocking chair up in an unfinished attic. She had run and extension chord up so that she could have a radio and her laptop, one of the things she had asked Danny to sneak into her house and get. Although, they had put in a space heater for when it started to get cold, she didn't have air conditioning. But if Sam got her way next June she would be back with the Fenton's.

She heard a tiny tap on her door causing her to yelp out of surprise. She closed her eye a took a few deep breathes as another thunder crash shook the floor boards. She opened her door and was literally latched onto by two little boys, knocking the wind out of her. Ryan was crying, tears streaking down his face. Blake was shaking so badly that it almost scared her.

They just stood there for a moment, Sam not sure what to say. "It's scary, Sam." Ryan muttered. He must be afraid, he was actually calling her Sam for once. "Can we sleep with you?"

Another bolt of lightning split the sky and she felt Ryan tense, Blake didn't seem to realize that it meant another thunder clap was coming. She wrapped an arm around the seven-year-olds shoulders and laid a hand on the back of Blake's head, holding him against her leg. The inevitable boom came complete with rattling windows and the slight shaking of the floorboards. Blake screamed and started wailing.

Sam scooped him up and started off towards her bed. Ryan ran in front of her and pulled himself up onto the bed. He looked at her, green eyes wide. Sam sat down but Blake refused to remove his arms from around her neck. She sighed and leaned back against the headboard. This was going to be a long night for all three of them.

Finding the house had been harder than he expected. It was one of those type of neighborhoods where every house looked similar and down to the numbers above the porch. He'd had to fly a lot lower than he liked. But he wasn't entirely sure if being intangible saved him from being struck by lightning. And he was not entirely sure he wanted to find out.

He finally found the house, having memorized the address a long time ago from staring at the envelope with the birthday card Sam had sent Jazz. He sighed and phased straight through into the attic. Sam was sitting upright her hand, resting on the little tousled head resting in her lap. The older boy was curled up against her side. They looked cute and harmless, rather than the two little terrors Sam often complained about.

He turned his attention back to Sam. She had put on weight since the last time he'd seen her but nothing major yet. Her hair was in her eyes a clip dangling from it, as if it had come lose during the night so far. He reached forward and gently took the barrette out. She mumbled something in her sleep but didn't wake up.

Danny gently brushed the back of his hand against her cheek. Her lashes seemed to flutter for a moment before sleep-darkened amethyst eyes opened. "Danny," she breathed.

"Hey," he whispered softly.

She seemed to jump blinking a few times. "It's really you?"

Danny smirked at her. "You say that as if you usually have visions of me when you wake up."

Sam blushed looking away. "You would enjoy that wouldn't you?"

He laughed lightly. "I'm glad to know that seeing me gets you excited."

She rolled her eyes. "Seeing you, Danny, is hardly enough to get me excited," she said softly, both very aware of the sleeping children around them.

He smiled at her raising an eyebrow. "Can I find out what I would have to do? Just for future reference." Sam stared at him slack jawed. "You're to easy to get the drop on." He said laughing lightly. She kicked at him gently through the comforter on her bed.

He looked over at her, all joking gone from his face. "I've missed you." He whispered, he tried to hide the longing from his voice but she could tell by the look on her face that she'd caught it.

"I've missed you too." Scared eyes, looked up at him. "What are we going to do. We still have another nine and a half months left."

He shook his head, wishing there was something, anything, he could say to reassure her. Heck, to reassure himself. "I dunno. I'll think of something. You just focus on getting better."

She leaned back against the headboard, her fingers twisting in Blake's hair. "I'm tired of people telling me to get better. It's like I'm dying or something."

You were, Danny thought to himself, you just didn't know it. He pushed back the morbid thought. "Your already happier."

Sam shook her head. "I'm just getting better at lying to myself, Danny." She looked up; bright eyes brimming with unshed tears. "And I'm not sure if it's a good thing."

**__**

You have just survived the longest wait for a chapter in Fallen history. For that I appoligize. I will be better about it I promise. Thanks to everyone who reviewed last time: Gladius, MrsDannyFenton, Spice Of Life, YAY!!!! x3, Rabid-Tortise, Samster The Hamster x2, The Fuzy Llama, AngelicxDeath x3, MayB, Shadow Sakura , gothmiko , Sakura Scout, Storm Sword, cheerin4danny, WormmonABC x2, Silverflare07, autumngold, Mrs. Granger-Weasley, Coldplayer813, Lady-Ashanya, The Good Girl, Wind Cat, Dark Lil' Hanyou, Moody Maud, Kagome51, q.t a.k.a spice, IceSugarHigh, Hwoarangsguardie, audi katia, Fox of Light, Ryo's destiny, Medisti x2, LittleMissMorbid, RavenForever, RainbowSerenity, KittenGoMoo, Osparrow, and Aeris9919. Sorry for making everyone wait!


	7. Chapter Six

****

Taking Over Me

Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.

Chapter Six

To live, to breathe, you're taking over me.

Danny watched as Ryan reached over and pulled Blake's hair, resulting in the screaming becoming even louder. "I was sitting there!" Ryan yelled as he grabbed his brother by the neck and shoulder and pulled him onto the floor. The preschooler picked himself up and ran over to curl up on his foster-sisters lap. She held onto the edge of her purple t-shirt and rested his head on her shoulder.

Sam absent-mindedly rubbed his back with her left hand without looking away from the monitor. Danny shook his head as Ryan started screaming the theme song for Spongebob at the top of his lungs. "Is it always this noisy."

Sam shook her head. "Ninety-five percent of the time its worse." She sighed as she clicked for the next and last page on google search results. She scanned it quickly before falling back in her chair. "That's it, Danny. We've tried everything we can thing of. Nothing is coming up about that thing with your eyes. You sure you didn't imagine it?"

"I'm positive! I mean if I was imagining it, why did Tuck run away? And what was the stupid bird of Vlad's talking about talking about?"

Sam just shook her head. "That's what I don't get. Why he was there at all? I mean, maybe I'm just stupid but I don't get why Vlad would send him."

Danny scoffed, "Join the club." He glanced over at the little face staring at him. Blake blinked right back. Danny flashed him a small smile and Blake clung tighter to Sam and buried his face in her shoulder. He turned his attention back to Sam. "And he said something about a trial. That mean anything to you?"

"Nope. In all our ghost research, I've never come up with anything about it." She raked her fingers through the back of Blake's hair.

Danny rubbed the back of his neck, trying to ignore how hopeless this was starting to look. "So what do I do?"

"Same thing we've always done," she grinned. "Deal with it as it happens."

Danny groaned. "Being a ghost would be so much easier if there was a handbook."

Sam laughed. "Idiots guide to being a genetically mutant ghost boy."

"I am _not_ genetically mutated. I'm just like every body else," he bit out.

She grinned closing out the browser window on the computer and disconnecting. "Of course you are." Her tone sounded like Blake had just told her he was going to be a groundhog when he grew up.

"Okay. So maybe I'm a freak."

Sam smiled shifting Blake's weight so that she was more comfortable. "You're not a freak. You're just not normal."

"Wow," Danny said in over-dramatized awe. "So I'm unique."

"Being unique is a good thing," Sam defended, and for a second Danny could almost pretend that the past four months hadn't happened; that everything was fine. It was then that Blake whined, bringing him crashing back down to reality.

"Sam, can I go watch Spongebob?" Sam nodded, helping the little boy off her lap. She watched him dart off towards the couch and sit next to his brother. Ryan shot him a dirty look before returning his attention to the screen.

Danny smiled. "They're not that bad," he said.

"They make me scream, cry, and so frustrated I could pull all my hair out; but they do have there moments." She sighed. "I'm getting better at the big sister thing. It's the mom thing I'm worried about."

Danny glanced over at her and shrugged. "I don't know. Seems like the same thing to me."

Sam shook her head. "No. I'm gonna be a single parent. I can't get frustrated and pass the baby off to someone. It's my responsibility. I have to pay for it, make sure that I have food, clothes, toys for him or her. It's totally different."

He couldn't help but notice the nervous hitch to her voice. "You'll be great," he assured her softly.

Sam shook her head, as if suddenly waking up out of a daze. "You didn't fly all night in a storm to listen to me complain. We still haven't fixed your problem." Suddenly, he felt tremendously selfish to have come all this way to bother Sam with something that may have been a one time freak occurrence. Sam was struggling with issues bigger than any he'd ever faced so far.

"I'm sorry. This is petty. I shouldn't have come." He started to get up. Sam grabbed his wrist and latched on.

She stared up at him, violet eyes reflecting the open, honest look on her face. "So, what? You're just going to go out in my yard and fly home in broad daylight?" He just stared down at her with a vacant look on his face. "Sit your butt down. We've got to think of something before I let you leave."

He dropped back down in the chair. "Sam, it's not a big deal. I mean I don't know what I expected you to find. It's not like anyone's been through this before. Well, except for Vlad. And it's not like he'd know what's wrong."

Sam's eyes went wide. "Danny, you're a genius!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Maybe…Maybe it's just me but I totally lost you there."

"Go ask Vlad."

"Go?" Danny asked in disbelief. "That would be a great visit. 'Hi Mr. Masters! I'm sorry you hate my dad but can you help me out with this whole ghost thing without me having to "renounce my idiot father"?' Great plan, Sam. I love it."

She shrugged. "Maybe he's like all the villains on TV. You just ask him for his master plan and he'll tell you."

"No one's that stupid," he added as he rolled his eyes.

She grinned at him. "I don't know…You have your moments."

"Not nice," he murmured. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "You really think I can pull that off."

He opened his eyes and locked gazes with her. He couldn't help but catch the nervous look in the purple depths. "I don't know. But as of now, it's the only plan we've got."

****

Hey everybody. I know, not the day after the last chapter. My creative writing teacher seems to think that I don't have my own writing to do so she keeps giving me things. Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers: Kagome51, YAY!!!, Rabid-Tortise, Hwoarangsguardie, WormmonABC, Danielle Phantom, Lady-Ashanya, KittenGoMoo, Medisti, gothmiko, Wind Cat, Moody Maud, Osparrow, Samster The Hamster, MayB, Silverflare07, Mrs. Granger-Weasley, Storm Sword, Sakura Scout, Id, autumngold, q.t a.k.a spice, Spice Of Life, Fox of Light, Ryo's destiny, RainbowSerenity, The Good Girl, Coldplayer813, and RavenForever. You guys are so supportive, it's amazing.


	8. Chapter Seven

****

Taking Over Me

Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.

Chapter Seven

Have you forgotten all I know and all we had.

Danny dropped into his seat in Bio II and blew out a breath. He took out his notebook and doodled on the margins of yesterdays notes. If trying to pass Bio I _with _Sam's help was hard, trying to pass Bio II _without_ her was darn near impossible. He was proud of himself for pulling a low C and he was only two weeks into the grading period. He rested his forehead against his head.

After a few seconds Tucker walked in and dropped into the lab seat next to him. "Hey," Tuck grinned at him. "How was your weekend."

"It was okay. I went and saw Sam on Saturday," he tossed out casually, as if she still lived just down the street. Tucker shot him a look.

"You got a reason why you convinced your parents to drive three hours this weekend."

Danny stopped doodling on his kite and started in on another random sketch. "I didn't. I flew. Friday night, technically."

Tuck arched an eyebrow. "If I'm remembering right, didn't it rain?"

"Whole way," he said without looking up.

He could almost hear Tucker roll his eyes. "Still doesn't answer the why."

Danny opened his mouth just as the finally bell rang and Mr. Lancer started calling for roll. Danny mouthed 'I'll tell you later'.

Half a class period later, Danny kept glancing up at the slide show of notes and copying everything as fast as he could. He felt something hit his arms and looked to his left to see the notebook Tucker had slid into his arm. The top line said, 'It's later'. Danny rolled his eyes as if it wasn't hard enough to focus without his best friend wanting him to do other things. He scribbled back. 'I asked her about my eyes.' He slid it back.

He went back to notes and was very proud that he had caught up by the time Tuck had finished his response. 'Couldn't you have just called?'.

'It was an excuse to see her,' Danny scribbled more illegibly than usual. It bought him enough time to even get a little ahead of what Mr. Lancer was droning on about. He still understood none of it. He could ask Sam tonight and hoped they were covering it in bio at her new school.

The blue lined notebook hit his arm again. 'Oh, did she figure out what to do about it?'

'No. So we decided I'm going this weekend to ask Vlad about it.' He was turning to the next page in his notebook when he heard Tuck gasp.

"Mr. Foyley," Lancer drawled. "Do you have something you would like to share with the class?"

Tucker's eyes went wide but, as answer to a silent prayer he didn't look at Danny. "No, sorry. I just was so enthralled by the fact that we have chromosomes…it just all got the better of me."

"I do not like being decieved," the science teacher warned. "I'll ask you again. Would you like to read that note Mr. Fenton passed you."

Danny could have died on the spot. He sank deeper in the brown plastic chair. "Why of course I wouldn't mind," Tucker said cheerily. He cleared his throat. "'Yo, Tuck. Did you catch that last thing Lancer said? I missed it.' to which I replied. 'he said "Through reproduction humans get a full set of chromosomes, half from each parent". You should really pay more attention, Danny.'"

Mr. Lancer glowered at him. "I'm glad you find yourself amusing, Mr. Foyley. Hand me the note." Danny could feel himself start to sweat. If Lancer read the note out loud, he was done for. He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath as he heard the notebook paper. Torn out and handed to Mr. Lancer. There was a moment of silence he was just waiting for Lancer to ask what they were talking about.

Lancer suddenly cleared his throat. "As I was saying. Human chromosomes come in pairs of two alleles. The absence of one allele can result in a syndrome, defect, or even spontaneous abortion." Blue eyes flew open. They had been spared. He had no idea how; he shot a glance at Tucker. Tucker looked at him, 'take notes' written all over his face.

Danny grabbed his pen and went back to scribbling notes on human genetics. The rest of the class passed in a blur of notes and jumbled thoughts. The two grabbed their books and took off towards the boys lockers for phys ed. "What the crud did you do?"

Tucker laughed throwing a glance over his shoulder as the pair skirted a group of giggling freshman girls. "I've only known you for eleven years and you've always been the lousiest note passer in the world. The second it hits your hand, all three of us would get caught."

"Excuse me," the blue-eyed sophomore bit out indignantly. "But wasn't it you who gasped."

Tucker shrugged. "He'd been eyeing us the past two times. So I needed a reason for him to take it. I skribbled out a fake note and forged your handwritting. Speaking of which you'd better have gotten all the notes, cause I need to borrow yours."

Danny shot Tuck and incredulous look as Tuck opened the door to the locker room. "_You _want to copy _my_ **_science_** notes. Wow, Tuck you're stupider than I thought."

Danny felt Tuck's eyes on him as he set his books down on the bench. He looked up to see his friend grinning at him as Tuck began opening his locker. "You know who's the stupid one?"

"I'm not--"

Tuck cut him off with a laugh. "I meant Lancer. The note we were passing back and forth had just gotten to me, meaning you wrote the last thing. The note I handed him, I had the last word."

****

I know a nothingness chapter but does anyone notice that I have one of these before the hardcore plot takes off? Probably not. Thankies to my wonderful reviewers: Medisti, Sakura Scout, Mr. Delmont, gothmiko, Kagome51, Samster The Hamster, WormmonABC, Spice Of Life, Ryo's destiny, Moody Maud, cheerin4danny, q.t a.k.a spice, Silverflare07, Storm Sword, Red Jack Malicious, autumngold, The Good Girl, Mrs. Granger-Weasley, MayB, Aeris9919, RavenForever, Fox of Light, Hwoarangsguardie, and RainbowSerenity. Thank you to all of you.

P.S. to Aeris9919: It's okay I'm supposed to be working on MY Beowulf paper as I write this author's note. Hehe.


	9. Chapter Eight

**_Taking Over Me_**

**Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.**

**Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.**

**Chapter Eight**

**You saw me mourning my love for you.**

Danny slumped back against a tall oak that stood in the left yard of the castle. He slid to the ground as he changed back, hardly noticing the t-shirt pull up and the bark dig at his lower back. This was it. He was here. Now, if he had any idea what to do. He sighed as he stared at the imposing stone structure. Suddenly the idea that had seemed accomplishable all week now looked idiotic. He brushed his bangs back from his eyes and took a deep breath.

He pulled himself through the window. It probably would have been simpler just to phase but his brain wasn't functioning at the moment. He wandered into the main hall and pulled himself up the stairs to the wing that Vlad's office and lab were in. He had thought about it on the way up. After all, the guy was a millionaire. He had to do some work at sometime. Maybe.

He wandered down the hall staring at his feet on the carpet. The sight of his worn dirty red shoes against the plush crimson carpet reminded him of just how out of his league he currently was. He swallowed, slowing to a stop, and debated if he had the energy to just fly home right now. "Any particular reason you're wandering aimlessly around _my_ castle."

Danny spun on his heals to see the aged millionaire staring at him with an eyebrow raised. "Me? Oh, well. I was just—"

"I know what you were just doing," Masters snapped, turning briskly and taking off down the hall, towards the stairs. Danny stood there for a moment. "Walk, boy. I'm assuming you can handle that much." Danny started and took off after the other half-ghost.

"I'm warning you now, if you think I'm going to hand answers to you on a silver platter you might as well turn around and fly yourself back to that one-horse little town of yours." Danny shook himself enough out of a daze to compute this.

"Your saying it as if I am going to get answers."

The older man laughed cryptically. "There are answers everywhere, son. You just have to be smart enough to put them together."

Danny couldn't tell if it was a jab or not. "So you do know what my problem is?"

"I do, yes." The older man turned to a corridor at the right of the stairs and continued deeper into the castle. The fifteen-year-old briefly registered that if he had to find his way out, it was going to be tricky. Or as Tucker always joked, just keep phasing in one direction and you'll hit outdoors eventually.

"So you can help me. Great."

"Help, I never said I would do that. I just said I know what's going on. Fun experience. One of my favorite parts of being a hybrid, but that's just personal preference." He responded in a falsely cheerful voice.

The older man opened a door and gestured for Danny to walk in. The fifteen-year-old stared into the dark doorway. His brain screamed to him that walking into a dark room first with one of his worst enemies watching his back wasn't a good idea. He ruthlessly squashed the thought. If he'd gotten this far, he couldn't back out now. Sam and Tucker were counting on him if nothing else. Worst case scenario, they both knew he was here and would no something was wrong if he never came home. Taking a deep breath, he shouldered past Vlad and slipped into the room.

It was a few moments before the lights flicked on. Danny glanced around a very expensive looking office as the older man glided past him, dropping into his chair. Danny mentally shook himself, remembering why he came. "So you know what's happening to me and why."

The other half-ghost didn't look up from where he was busying himself with files on his desk. "I have a vague idea certainly. So how is that little friend of yours that's pregnant? Samantha, was it?"

Danny felt like he'd been slapped. "How do you know about Sam," he demanded.

"Touchy," the older man commented lightly, barely glancing up. "If I were you, Daniel, I wouldn't snap on people you're asking for help from."

"Thank God you're not me," Danny glowered at him for a moment. "You know what? Forget it. I don't need your help. I've done just fine on my own." He turned and started towards the door.

"It's Sam's fault," came the soft reply from Masters.

Danny spun on his heal. "What did you say?"

The older man looked up and for the first time in the whole visit held the teens gaze. "She left. She's always been your reason to go through this and now she's not there."

"Sam didn't leave me. And I wasn't fighting for Sam." Danny couldn't help but feel a little guilty as he spit it out. He felt like he was betraying Sam. He'd always wanted to keep her safe and he would die if anything happened to her. But Vlad was making it sound like some superhero comic book, the kind where the hero's madly in love with a girl he can't ever have. It wasn't like that with him and Sam.

The older man had a strange knowing look in his eyes that made Danny nervous. "You think I have no idea how it feels, Danny. I lost control of my powers when your mom fell for that idiot you call your father. It's the same thing."

Danny shook his head vehemently, his bang falling against his eyes. He brushed them back with the back of his hand as he responded. "No. It's totally different. She's my best friend. Nothing more, nothing less. She's never has been and never will be."

The older man arched an eyebrow and scrutinized the dark-haired boy. The look scared Danny but he refused to look away. He would at least stand up for himself that much. "I'll offer you a deal, Fenton," he said, spitting out the last name as if it was an insult. "I'll tell you how you can stop it. But in return you owe me a favor. I'll tell you what it is, when I need it. That's it. Nothing complicated."

The fifteen-year-old blinked. It didn't sound simple at all. It sounded like he was sealing his own doom. He tried to see what Vlad was getting out of this. "You can't hurt my family or my friends."

"Fair enough," the older man stated with a shrug. Danny stared at him guardedly. "I don't have all day, Son."

"Don't call me that!" He stared at the carpet for a few more seconds. He finally brought his gaze up, determination shining in his eyes. "I'll do it. But you have to promise you won't hurt them. Especially Sam, she's going through enough without you messing up her life."

Masters smiled cryptically. "Deal. Go ahead and go back. You have a long flight ahead of you. Come back next week and I'll help you." Danny spun and headed for the door, feeling like he had just made a deal with Satin himself. "Oh, Danny?" He glanced over his shoulder to see the older man staring at him with a strange hooded look. "Remember, if you break your promise, I'm free to break mine."

_**Hey. Another chapter complete. Now we're getting somewhere in the plot. I'm back to being computerless. I'll update when I can. Huge thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far: Hwoarangsguardie, Yay!!!!!!, Fox of Light, Moody Maud, KittenGoMoo, Angels624, Silverflare07, autumngold, Sakura Scout, q.t a.k.a spice, Mr. Delmont, Spice of Life, gothmiko, Ryo's destiny, RavenForever, Storm Sword, CoLdPLaYeR813, Medisti, Samster The Hamster, Kagome51, MayB, Mrs. Granger-Weasley, cheerin4danny, RainbowSerenity, WormmonABC, Wind Cat, audi katia, and The Good Girl. Thanks to you all.**_


	10. Chapter Nine

**_Taking Over Me_**

**Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.**

**Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.**

**Chapter Nine**

**And touched my hand.**

Danny glanced up as the boy across from him almost choked on last Tuesdays hamburger patty covered in beef gravy that they were trying to pass off as Salisbury Steak. Tucker took a drink out of his chocolate milk and shot him an incredulous look. "So you just promised he could make you his puppet."

Danny sighed staring at the almost solid mashed potatoes he was stabbing with his plastic spoon. "Yeah, pretty much," he stated. Not looking up. He already knew what Tucker was thinking, he didn't need to look. It was the same thing Danny had been thinking for two straight days. What he had done was stupid and could very well end up with him or someone he cared about dead.

"Do you realize how stupid that was? I mean, did you think at all?" Danny rolled his eyes before raising his head and looking at the darker skinned boy sitting across from him.

He sighed dropping his gaze back to his tray as he toyed with his food. "It wasn't exactly one of those situations where you have a choice, Tuck. I mean I can't see him just letting me walk out of his office. He's not like that. He doesn't seem the type to do anything unless there's personal gain in it for him."

The other boy sighed, pushing his glasses further up on the bridge of his nose, a nervous habit he had picked up when he was much younger. "It still doesn't seem smart, Danny." He sighed. "Not as if my opinion counts for anything anymore."

Danny snapped his gaze up. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," he responded tartly. He grabbed his Biology II and Basic HTML book from off the table next to him. "I'll talk to you later," with that Tucker made a swiftly exit. Danny stared down at the meal he had had little interest in to begin with. He glared down at his fork, as if blaming it for all the problems he currently had. His mind churned over the unfairness of Sam's pregnancy, her getting taken away, Tucker become more and more withdrawn from him. In the past year he had gone from being normal to being a mutant. In the process he'd lost his openness with his family, his chance to be normal and his two best friends.

His gaze intensified on the plastic little utensil. He had nothing better to take his wrath out on at the moment. He glared at the fork. Without any warning, it floated up about two inches in the air. Danny jerked backwards, eyes going wide. The plastic fork fell to the table bouncing a few times before it settled. Danny stared in shock at the little object. He could move stuff? In some strange way it made sense. Vlad and the Box Ghost could.

He pointed his finger at the little utensil and it took on an eerie green glow, as did his fingertip. He pointed to a spot about four inches to the right. The fork slid silently to the spot. Danny grinned. He floated it up into the air and watched with a triumphant grin as it fell back onto his tray. With that Danny grabbed his tray. He walked over and dumped it into the garbage can, leaving the cafeteria.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sam sighed as Amanda lowered the study sheet and smiled over at her. "I don't know why you're so worried. Mrs. K always gives easy quizzes. Besides you know all this stuff." She gestured to the list she had just dropped.

Sam sighed. "Yeah, I know. He's just got a much harder grading scale then we ever had back at CHS."

Amanda rolled her eyes and tucked the sheet back into a blue folder with English II scribbled on it. "You'll be fine." The two sat in silence for a moment or as near to it as you can get in a courtyard with thirty other high schoolers . "So how is everything?" Amanda asked.

Sam sighed inwardly. That was how Amanda always worded it when she was wondering about the baby. "Not much. Doctor says the baby should start kicking soon."

Amanda got the sort of happy look and cooed. Sam rolled her eyes. If she could be half as happy about the child as Amanda was everything would be okay. Of course Amanda only had to listen to Sam talk about being pregnant. She would be going back to Amity Park when the baby was only three months, so it didn't really affect Amanda. No wonder the concept of having a baby seemed so romantic to her. Plus she was the type of girl who would never get pregnant in high school. A little voice in the back of Sam's head whispered that would have described herself just as easily as anyone else. She suppressed the thought.

"Amanda!" Both girls looked up to see Amanda's friend Beth signaling for her from across the courtyard.

Sam forced a smile as Amanda looked at her. "Go ahead and go. I'm fine. Thanks for helping me study."

"Sure thing," Amanda grinned. With that she shouldered her bag and grabbed her folder. Sam watched her walk away. With a sigh she got out her homework from this morning. She uncapped her pen, trying to focus on anything other than the fact that she didn't have a close friend here. She was probably closest to Blake and Ryan. Suddenly that just seemed pathetic.

Suddenly Home Ec sheet she was working on fell into shadows. Her pen paused mid word as she looked up. "Hey Chris," she said, glancing from the blonde senior back down to her homework.

"What ya working on?" He dropped onto the bench next to her and glanced over her shoulder at the workbook in her lap.

"Home Ec. Kitchen Safety Chapter." She capped her pen again and slid it back into the loop on her bag. She looked up at him.

He grinned at her. "Ah I remember that class. The cooking with Vegetables chapter sucked."

Sam looked up from unzipping her bag to put the book away. "I don't think that'll be an issue for me." She continued before he could say any more. "Is there a reason your talking to me?" She sounded snippy but at the moment she really could care less.

Chris flicked absentmindedly at a little piece of his hair that wasn't staying spiked like the rest. "Yeah, actually. I heard a rumor that you're around here to learn how to work with children."

"Ah, so I'm no longer running from my lovers crazy wife." She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Nah," he laughed. "That one got old last week. Anyway, I wanted to offer you a job."

"A job? I don't need a job, thanks a lot." Sam shouldered her bag and started to get up.

A hand on her elbow stilled her. "Now, hang on a second, Sammy, I—"

"It's Sam," she interjected. For some reason the nickname bothered her more than it should have. Probably because the only person who called her that was Danny and only when one of them was really upset.

"Sam. I work at the library uptown and we need another person to help shelve books after school. Real easy. They're in alphabetical order. Other than that, all you'd have to do is make sure the little kids don't kill each other."

Sam shook her head. "Thanks but no thanks. I have my hands full between school, brothers, and trying to get the hang of a new life."

"Whatever." He shrugged. "I gave them your name anyway."

Sam's violet eyes went wide. "You did what?"

"Gave them your name and number. Last night my boss asked me if we knew anyone. You popped into my head for some reason so I wrote your name down." He shrugged. Before Sam could retort the warning bell to get to class rang. Sam just spun on her heal and marched the other way. Sam glanced back but Chris had already gone over to his friends and had his back to her. Sam sighed. Whenever she thought she'd finally got the hang of something, it just had to get worse.

**Hey! I know everyone's wondering "What is up with the job?" It serves it's purpose believe me there is method to this madness. Speaking of Madness, I just got a new computer. CAN YOU SAY UPDATE! YAY! Anyways, thanks as always to my splendiferous fans: wingedwish, Hwoarangsguardie, Lady-Ashanya, big harry potter fan, Mr. Delmont, Fox of Light, Spice Of Life, MayB, Autumngold, Ryo's destiny, cheerin4danny, q.t a.k.a spice, Medisti, KittenGoMoo, gothmiko, Mrs. Granger-Weasley, Sakura Scout, RainbowSerenity, audi katia, RavenForever, The Good Girl, Wind Cat, Moody Maud, WormmonABC, Silverflare07, The Fuzy Llama, and Kagome51. Love you guys!**


	11. Chapter Ten

****

Taking Over Me

Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.

Chapter Ten

I knew you loved me then.

Danny drummed his fingers against his health book, trying to concentrate on the worksheet he was filling about noticing the signs of suicide but all that kept running through his head was 'Yeah, Sam said that' and 'Sam never did that'. It shouldn't be this hard for him, but as he skimmed the chapter over suicidal mindset and the importance of telling someone if you were having suicidal thoughts, he kept thinking that the people who wrote the book had no idea what they were talking about. They'd never sat there and stare into their best friend's eyes, glazed from blood-loss, listening to them swear with an emotionless voice that they didn't want to live another day.

He slammed the book shut in disgust and fell back onto his bed. He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to make the past day and a half go away. He laughed bitterly to himself. Forget the past forty-eight hours, could he just redo the past year and two months? Never walk into that stupid machine, never have had Sam over that Friday night, never have let her attempt to take her own life. He wanted to just be a normal guy with a normal life. He wanted to have a girlfriend and have nothing more to worry about on Friday night than what movie to see or whether the football team was winning at the moment. But normal things never really crossed his mind. He dwelled on Sam's pregnancy, his deteriorating relationship with Tucker, hiding his secret from his parents, and staying as far away from Dash Baxter as humanly possible.

He glanced back at the sheet. "Forget it," he muttered to himself as he folded the sheet in half, tucking it in his book. It could wait for study hall. It wasn't going to kill him not to finish it tonight. He glanced at the clock. 8:13, he thought with a small smile. He grabbed his book walking over to his desk. He wiggled the mouse to his computer as he dropped the book on the floor next to his bag. With in minutes he was signed in and quickly checked his email. He grinned as one from Sam popped up along with a forward from Tucker and a few junk emails from random sources. He double clicked the email from Sam and a new window appeared.

Hey Danny Boy,

LoL. I know you hate being called that, but your not here to stop me now are you? :P It's been an incredibly strange day. Blake and I are both sick so we stayed home today and watched some old tapes of _Mr. Rogers's Neighborhood_ together. I hate being sick but I can't complain cause Blake's much more miserable than I am. His fever's much higher though I guess mines more of a concern because of the baby. At least that's what the guy at the hospital clinic told me. But nothing really eventful today.

In other news, the baby moved for the first time today. I wish I could tell you it was like that magical experience everyone else tells you it is, but it really wasn't. In fact I didn't realize till a couple seconds later. You'll laugh at me but the first thing that I thought was "There's something wrong with the baby!" cause the doctor told me to worry about anything that didn't feel natural and let me tell you, it did NOT strike me as natural. I'm probably just stupid. :) Laugh if the urge strikes you. I probably would if my head wasn't killing me.

Oh and I go to have my sonogram Friday. I'll spare you the intimate details but I decided to find out whether it's a boy or girl. Ryan swears it's a little boy and it needs to be named after him. I'm trying to explain gently that that's not going to happen but he has an ego that could give Tucker a run for his money. Blake thinks we should name it Bob the Tomato. He's on a VeggieTales kick at the moment. My poor baby is not going to be named Ryan Bob the Tomato Manson. But I am getting attatched to the idea of being a mom. (Ryan claims that's his doing as well.)

I would think of something more to talk about, but lacking my ability to take meds is killing me! My head hurts so bad. :'( But write back. How was your day? Still going to see Masters this weekend? Is Tucker still mad at you? He wouldn't tell me why he was upset. Hopefully your having better luck than I am.

As always,

Sam Manson

Danny grinned at the email. He missed her so much. Maybe this was exactly what she needed to get better, but it was killing him not to be there for her. He felt like he was doing a lousy job of being her best friend. She was adjusting. She adored her brothers, tolerated Mr. And Mrs. Carter even though it sounded like they weren't around much and Sam had kind of become a live-in babysitter. But the idea that she didn't need him was killing him. He had gotten so used to the idea of being the one she could lean on, that _she _needed _him_. Yet as weeks crawled on Sam was making it on her own. She was not only getting by she was getting better. It was only driving the point home that same didn't need him, he needed Sam. Sam was going to make it and Danny life was slowly going down hill.

He rubbed his eyes as he hit the reply button. He kept it strictly to what had happened that day. Not discussing the fact that talking about suicide in Health class was a daily reminder how close he'd come to losing her, the fact that he was suddenly realizing how little his friends needed him yet he couldn't get by without them. They could both make it on their own, Danny must be some incredible loser to not be able to deal with daily life without someone there holding his hand. He hit the send button and watched the little sending mail loading bar pop up on the screen. He fell back in the chair his eyes going unfocused. He couldn't help but wonder, other than fighting ghost, was he really doing anything with his life anymore?

Another chapter complete. Yeah! I'm sorry it took so long I want to have another chapter up tomorrow cause we're getting to the fun plot now, not the boring filler-ish stuff. But thank you for everybody who is still reading, despite it's lack of action yet. Special thanks to those who gave me a piece of their minds: The Fuzy Llama, YAY!!! x2, Wind Cat, Hey...hey you...you want a mahnkey?, cheerin4danny, Spice Of Life, audi katia, Hwoarangsguardie, autumngold, q.t a.k.a spice, Daneille Phantom, GMGirl, GMGirl, Ryo's destiny, CoLdPLaYeR81, MayB, gothmiko, Medisti, RainbowSerenity, RavenForever, Sakura Scout, Silverflare07, WormmonABC, Moody Maud, KittenGoMoo, Mrs. Granger-Weasley, and Osparrow. Ye doth rocketh mine sockeths.


	12. Chapter Eleven

****

Taking Over Me

Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.

Chapter Eleven

I believe in you.

"I'm going to meet Tucker!" Danny called down to his parents. He forced his voice to stay neutral. He shifted the duffel bag strap higher up on his shoulder as he grabbed a Mountain Dew out of the fridge door.

"What time I'll you be home?" His mom called.

"Around ten tomorrow morning," Danny said loudly, over his shoulder. "We're camping out by the park so don't call his house if you need us."

"Have fun! Call us if you see a ghost!"

Danny rolled his eyes, "Sure, Dad!" Relief washed over him. They had bought it. He felt a little guilty about lying to them, but every time he had had to lie to them over the past year or so, less guilt came. Danny wasn't sure whether that made it easier or harder for him to do it. He slipped quietly out the front door, making sure he had his house key. He leapt of the steps already leaving later than he should be. He darted around to the alley that lead back to the shed. With just a brief thought about it he felt the change that he was getting so accustomed to. His heart and lungs stopped and the piercing cold that always accompanied it crept over him. The only thing that was different was instead of the normal bright green his eyes shone up a deep glowing crimson, giving the fifteen-year-old a virtually demonic look. Taking a deep breath, Danny Phantom went invisible and took off toward Wisconsin.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Danny sat at the edge of Vlad's lab just staring at the other man as he flipped through an old journal from when similar things had happened to him. Being a science major had resulted in the financial tycoon keeping meticulous records of all he went through. But Danny didn't have much longer. He was facing a five-hour fly home in the morning and he hadn't gotten here till almost nine o'clock. It was now well past midnight and Vlad hadn't said more than three curt sentences to him. Danny took a deep breath and sighed, causing the older man to glance just briefly in his direction.

He glanced over at vials full of different colored substances and a beaker of slowly simmering blue liquid over a Bunsen burner. The further into his high school years he got, the less he was sure of what he wanted to do with his life. He was starting to realize there was virtually no way he would ever become an astronaut now. He sighed. He guessed not knowing wasn't bad. Tucker knew but Sam didn't. Of course she had known up until this summer, when things had changed, but he guessed the same could be said of him.

He wondered if that's why he had felt so much closer to Sam than Tucker had lately. Suddenly, someone else knew how it felt to have the rest of your life change in an instant. It was as if they shared a secret that Tucker would never understand. But he could tell it was grating against Tuckers nerves. He had been slightly closer to Tucker than Sam. Just because in Junior High, it had suddenly become a big deal to have a best friend that was a girl. Danny gave his head a little shake, bangs falling into his vision. He needed a haircut, he noted to himself.

"Are you done yet?" He bit out, sounding a little snippier than he had intended to.

Vlad didn't even look. "I'll be done when I'm done."

Danny glared agitatedly in the grown man's direction. "I don't get what my dad ever saw in you."

Masters looked up, a sort of possessed look about him. "It wasn't what your _father_ saw in me. It was what _I _saw in him."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

An evil laugh drifted across the room, not the type associated with TV villains but the bitter laugh of someone who's seen too much. "Your like every other teen on this planet. Has it ever occurred to you, son, that your parents had _lives_ before you were born?" Danny just threw the older man a how-stupid-do-I-look glance before going back to staring at the beaker on the Bunsen Burner. "Your father was an moron with too much money from his parents on his hands and nothing to do with it. He entered college with your mother on his arm and no cares in the world."

"My dad isn't an idiot!"

"Your grandfather gave University of Wisconsin a huge amount of money," Vlad cut him off. "That is the _only_ reason that imbecile you consider a father made it into anywhere."

Danny glared at the older man, his eyes becoming steely. He told himself it wasn't true but for some reason it made sense. He had seen his father's old report cards. He wasn't an overly bright student that was for sure. And when Jazz had taken the ACTs last year, his dad had congratulated her saying she had done much better than him and she had only scored in the mid twenties.

A grin slid slowly across the other halfa's face. "This is just too rich. It's never occurred to you before, has it?" He chuckled and Danny felt anger churn in his gut. "Don't you ever wonder how your parents had the finances to keep you in that nice, big house on a business where they hardly ever make a profit. Your grandpa gave him a good deal of money thinking your dad would realize it was a dream and move on. But then suddenly, your parents had a daughter with a son on the way and your mother made a breakthrough in mapping out the genetic structure of ectoplasm. Change the way paranormal science was looked at; made them enough money to set them for years."

Danny interjected. "See! They do know what they're doing! You're just jealous!"

He didn't continue. Something in the billionaire's face made him pause. It was sort of a knowing look as if he could see the future, see something that greatly contradicted everything Danny had just said. But all that came out of his mouth was "We shall see."

Danny swallowed. "That doesn't answer why I'm here."

The older man got up off his stool and walked slowly around the table. The phrase 'stalking your prey' popped into Danny's mind, but he suppressed it along with the subsequent mental image. Vlad got right in front of him and grabbed Danny by the chin. He forced the fifteen-year-old to look up into the other ghost hybrid's eyes. Danny almost shuddered at all the hidden things in that gaze but what bothered him the most was the pensive look, as if Masters was staring into his very soal. A slow smile curved the other man's lips, reminiscent of the look a cobra has right before it attacks. "Kill her," he whispered.

Blue eyes went wide. "What," he asked hoarsely.

"Kill her," the older man leered. "Kill Samantha like I tried to kill your mother."

Yay. The other half of this conversation is going up tonight so I know I'm not giving you really long time to review. I apologize! Forgive me. Now wait long enough before killing me so I can thank my reviewers. A big yay for: gothmiko, Wind Cat, YAY!!!, The Good Girl, audi katia, Mr. Delmont, Spice Of Life, sYnergY's Duality, Blossoming Orange Rose, q.t a.k.a spice, Kagome51, autumngold, Osparrow, Medisti, cheerin4danny, WormmonABC, MayB, Silverflare07, GMGirl, The Fuzy Llama, Ryo's destiny, Sakura Scout, Hwoarangsguardie, Mrs. Granger-Weasley, RavenForever, RainbowSerenity, CoLdPLaYeR813, Moody Maud, and Jessi. :)

P.S. If you want to get a gift-fic on your b-day, leave your birthday in your review.


	13. Chapter Twelve

**__**

Taking Over Me

Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.

Chapter Twelve

I'll give up everything just to find you.

Danny drew back as if burned. At the moment he wasn't sure what scared him more, the idea that he was sitting in a room with a man that was claiming to have tried to kill his mom or that the monster had told him to kill Sam. His eyes burned as if he was about to cry but he had no idea why. He opened his mouth only to close it again. Betrayel washed over him in a hot wave. "You promised," he choked out. The other just arched an eyebrow. "You promised I wouldn't have to hurt her."

The older man smirked. "No, I told you that wouldn't be the favor. And it's not, it's my recommendation on how to fix this." Vlad gestured carelessly with his right arm. "Life's about technicallities, Daniel. You have to learn that to survive. Especially if your like me."

"I'm not like you!" Danny practically spat at the other man. "I'll _never _be like you."

Vlad smirked and Danny wished like anything that he could wipe it off his perfect face. "Whether you know it or not, you already are. You're doomed to this Danny. Killing your mother was the only way I could survive and I know that it'll be the same for you and that little Goth."

"You didn't kill my mom. You're a liar."

"Ah but I broke her. Took your father years to get her to smile after what I put her through." The older man gave a twisted smile, the kind that will haunt someone for the rest of her life. Danny fought to suppress the shudder that it brought on. "She betrayed you. The same way Maddie did me."

"Sam has never betrayed me. And she never will."

Vlad kept his voice smooth. "But you feel betrayed all the same." Danny opened his mouth but his complaint was waved away. "She left you and it doesn't bother her at all."

Danny blinked. "Of course, it bothers her. She's my best friend."

"Exactly! _She_'s _your_ best friend; not _you_'re _her_ best friend."

"It's the same thing," he retorted. But they both knew Vlad had made his point and he had walked straight into the older man's trap.

The older man arched an eyebrow. "You expect me to think that you actually think she still needs you?" He shook his head slowly. "You're wrong, Danny. About everything. She doesn't need you and as much as you try to deny it you are exactly like me." Danny shook his head mutely, not trusting his voice enough to respond.

The older man snatched up the book lying on the table. "Maddie and Jack had a fall out sophomore year. He was an idiot and went to another girl's dorm room 'to study', to dense to figure out what she was offering. Maddie confronted him and he feigned innocence." He turned and walked over to the shelf to return the journal he had been reading. "They had quite a fight and Jack lost it and smacked her. She left our dorm in tears. It broke her. The only reason she had come to this college was to be with Jack and now he wouldn't even look at her. I approached Jack about it and he lashed out at me."

Danny's gaze dropped from the old main to the boiling beaker again. The older man's face reflected how hard it had been for the three of them to go through it. He tried to imagine his parents and Vlad being best friends. For some reason the image just wouldn't come. "Maddie sort of retreated into herself. She stopped eating and Jack either didn't notice or really didn't care. She ended up fainting one day walking home from class and a girl from her floor found her," Vlad said, his voice sounding distant as if he'd forgotten he was talking to Danny and was just remembering for himself.

"She got put in a recovery home on the edge of town. I took the bus out and saw her after my three o'clock class every Tuesday and Thursday and as often as I could get away on the weekend. Jack never went and saw her." Danny glanced up to see the older man lock eyes with him. The intense look he shot the raven-haired boy made him look down. "That's probably why she got worse. Nobody could make her eat and her parents didn't want her on a feeding tube unless it was a matter of life and death. She got to the point where she didn't have enough energy to open her eyes some days."

"She went on a feeding tube Christmas break of that year. I didn't go home because I couldn't bear to be an hour away if something happened. Jack took the first bus home after his last midterm. I just sat there for hours talking to her, even though she couldn't respond." The billionaire shook his head, tied back hair hitting his shoulders. "I don't know if it was something I said, or if she suddenly just realized she was dying but for some reason she just started fighting it. It was a long year and a half of fighting with her to eat. Some days she just looked so sickly that I never would believe that she'd survive."

He suddenly seemed to realize Danny was there, his eyes snapping to the younger boy. "One night, Jack and I got in a fight one night in the lab after Maddie left to go to a study group for British Literature. I just remember bits and pieces of what was said but it woke Jack up to what he'd almost lost. And he decided that he needed to be the one that she needed. Even though the time she needed him, he turned tail and ran. The lab accident that ruined my life happened about a month later. Maddie and Jack didn't come visit me in the hospital. I was there every second I could be for her and then she just abandoned me. I lay there and just obsessed over it till I hated her. When I was finally was released, all I wanted to see was her dead. I'd given every moment of a year and a half to her and she only visited me twice. And always hanging on Jack's arm, smiling and bright-eyed."

Danny couldn't believe his parents did that but despite his disbelief drifted up in fourth grade when his parents had stood him and Jazz up at student art night at their elementary school and their principal finally had to call and ask dad to come pick him up. How his parents had missed Jazz's eleventh birthday cause they were asked to be key-note speakers at a Paranormal Science Convention. They weren't bad people, but he had to admit that they had always had odd priorities and a sort of not-completely-there persona.

"I waited till the perfect opportunity to kill her and finally it showed up. We were supposed to meet for a lab on the sixth floor of the science building for a lab. I peered through the door and saw just Maddie standing over at the open window. I saw my shot and I went to take it. Just as I got close enough she started whistling this song her and I used to sing with the radio freshman year. Jack always hated that song, didn't see why we liked it. And I couldn't do it. I decided I couldn't kill her. But yet I couldn't get rid of the idea once I had it. It sort of possessed me until one night I lost control of my powers completely. I showed up in Maddie's room one night as Plasmius and beat her till she'd lost so much blood I didn't think there was anyway she could survive. Jack called soon after I left and when she didn't answer, he came to check on her. He got her too the hospital and they managed to save her."

Danny finally Vlad seemed to stop. He looked straight at Danny. "But I don't get how trying to kill Sam will change anything. I mean isn't the point that you couldn't kill her."

The older man shook his head. "The point is I resented her. My ghost side latched onto that emotion and fueled it despite everything until I didn't have any control over it anymore. And you resent Sam. I can see it in your eyes. She left you."

He stared down at his knees of the old, worn pair of jeans he had on. "She couldn't help it," he responded, but his voice lacked all conviction.

The older man stared at him. "That's why I told you to kill her. All I know is I fought it when I had the urge and it almost cost Maddie her life. If you try it now, you can still have a little control."

Danny glanced down at his shoes still not entirely sure he could trust Vlad. "What if that makes it worse?" He glanced up through dark bangs and scrutinized the defeated looking man sitting before him. "Why are you even helping me."

The older man looked at him his eyes losing focus. "My whole life I've had to live with the guilt of knowing I could easily have killed her. I can't live the rest of my life knowing I'm giving her son the same burden."

****

Hey. We have plot now. I'm hoping everyone followed that. And if you think its OOC give me a little while. It will all work out in the end. Thanks to my wonderful six reviewers: CoLdPLaYeR813, RainbowSerenity, RavenForever, Aeris9919, Mrs. Granger-Weasley, and Silverflare07. YOU ARE OFFICIALLY KEWL!


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**__**

Taking Over Me

Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.

Chapter Thirteen

I have to be with you.

The screen door flew open and the screaming sandy-haired child ran out into the yard. It barely closed before it opened again. "Blake!" Sam darted down the steps ignoring her sore back and scooped up the child, despite doctor's orders that she stop lifting soon. She managed to balance him on a hip while she got the door open. She barely managed to get him in before he latched onto the side of the doorframe. "Blake," she yelled again, barely audible over the sounds of Playhouse Disney blaring on the TV.

She grabbed him by the wrist pulling him up the stairs to his room while he threw his weight against her. She shoved him into the room and slammed the door behind her. The four-year-old fell to the floor, screaming and pounding his fist. "You can scream all you want, I'm still not letting you go outside barefoot and in your PJs," she hollered back. "It's October, Blake! It's cold!"

The wailing increased in pitch as Sam opened the closet door and wondered again if she could be a parent. She tossed a Wiggles sweatshirt onto the bed and pulled out a pair of black sweat pants. She glanced back at her foster-brother that was thrashing around like a beached fish. "Oh, stop it. You're not dying!"

She pulled the wiggling boy to his feet and pulled off the blue pajama top. As soon as she had it off him, he threw himself to the floor again. "Come on, Blake." She sighed. "You're not a baby anymore; stop acting like one."

She picked him up and carried him bridal style to the unmade bed and dropped him unceremoniously onto it. She pulled the Wiggles sweatshirt over his head. She grabbed his left arm and tried to force it through the sleeve. Blake pinned it against the side of his body. "Fine," Sam said, throwing her hands up. "I give up. It's Saturday, buddy. I can sit here as long as you can." She sat there for less than a minute before Blake seemed to calm down. "Alright, we can do this my way and you can go outside as soon as I get your pants and shoes on you. Or we can do it your way and we can sit here and do nothing."

Blake stared moodily at a toy. Reminded her of the moods Danny would get in when they were little. Boy, she wished he were here now. He was much better with kids than she was. He was the type to walk up to a little lost kid in the mall and convince them to come with him to page their parents. It was one of the more endearing qualities about him. She reached out and rubbed his back. "Come on. Let's finish getting you changed."

She finally got his sweats on and went over to grab a pair of socks. "Sam," asked the young voice.

She glanced over her shoulder before returning her attention to digging through the pile of socks. "Yeah?"

"Are you really gonna leave?" She turned at the little quiver in his voice. Little blue-grean eyes shone with tears and she bit her lip.

She dropped back onto the bed next to him, socks forgotten. "Is that why your so upset this morning?" He nodded but didn't look up. "I'm not leaving for a while yet, Blake."

"But you will." She opened her mouth to respond only to be cut off by the sound of a phone ringing.

She brushed his hair out of his eyes. "I'll be right back."

She went across the hall into Mr. and Mrs. Carter's room and grabbed the phone. "Hello?" She turned leaning her lower back against the edge of the table.

"Sam?" Tammy Carter's voice drifted out of the phone. "Oh good your up. The library called this morning before you were up. Said that you had been suggested for a job. I told them you could come in at two-thirty for an interview."

A wave of anger washed over her. "Tammy, I already told the boy who suggested me that I wasn't interested."

"Samantha," she bit out. "It's a good job. And you need the money. You can't expect us or the Fenton's to pay for everything for you and the baby." Sam glared at the wall across the room. "And it's not like you have any activities your in that conflict with it. In fact you've only gone out once since you've been here."

"So I'm just supposed to leave Blake and Ryan here while I'm working?"

Tammy sighed. "Take them with you. I asked this morning, they said it would be fine."

"Well, haven't you thought of everything," she chortled sardonically.

"I don't need you to pull this attitude, Sam."

Sensing the impending argument, the teen cut her off. "I have to go. Ryan keeps asking me to fix him something to eat. I'll talk to you later."

She could almost sense the ill feelings from the woman on the other end of the line. "At least go to the interview."

"I will," she said, hoping it pacified her foster-parent. "Bye."

Blake poked his head in the door. "Mommy?" he asked.

She sighed. "Yeah, it was mommy. I have to go out this afternoon. You and Ryan have to come with me."

"Okay," Blake said, his little noise scrunched up with his confused look.

Sam laughed lightly. "Let's go get you some macaroni and cheese, Kay?"

The little light haired boys face light up and he let out a cry that sounded like a cross between 'yay' and 'yippee'. Sam grinned. Suddenly, she agreed with Danny. If she get being a big sister down, she could tackle this kid-raising thing.

****

Hey. I'm getting back into this daily update thing. Aren't you all thrilled? Don't lie to me, you know you've missed them! And yes, Virginia, there is a plot! Thanks to my great reviewers: Osparrow, WormmonABC x2, Chicken Person, cheerin4danny, MayB x2, GMGirl, The Fuzy Llama, Silverflare07, Dragon Blade5 x2, Hwoarangsguardie, autumngold x2, Sakura Scout x2, Storm Sword, The Good Girl, CoLdPLaYeR813, Moody Maud x2, Mrs. Granger-Weasley, audi katia, Spice Of Life, RavenForever, and Sakura Scout. A toast to your awesomeness!


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**__**

Taking Over Me

Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.

Chapter Fourteen

To live, to breathe, you're taking over me.

Sam pushed the mashed potatoes aimlessly around her plate, trying to ignore the gray coloring to them. "So how was your second day of work?" Everett asked. She glanced over at him. She always had despised small talk. It was one thing when they cared, like with Danny or Tucker. And there was no way Everett really cared how it had gone.

"Okay. It's really easy. The only thing that's going to take some work is getting the report filing system down."

Ryan interjected. "I saw a girl from my class there! She was getting movies. She even had a PG one!"

"That's nice, Ryan," his mother said absently. "So when's your first payday?"

"This Friday, but it cuts of with your time from Wednesday. So all I'll have on it is today and yesterday. Can we talk about something else?" Sam wished they had something else to talk about. She was already sick of having a job and she'd only started Monday.

"She's just sad cause her _boyfriend_ hasn't wrote her," Ryan said in a sing song voice.

Sam wheeled on the younger boy. "Danny is NOT my boyfriend!"

The phone began ringing as Ryan started chanting. "Sam and Danny sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G." She wondered how bad she'd hurt the worm if she chucked her fork at his eye.

Sam watched as Everett got up from his chair and walked out of the room. "Carter Residence. Everett speaking." Sam turned her attention back to the green-eyed second grader just as he finished singing about a baby carriage.

"Sam has a baby," Blake commented, his mouth full of mashed potatoes.

"She doesn't have one yet, stupid. She isn't gonna get it till Valentine's day!"

"Sam," they all turned at the sound of Everett's serious voice. "It's for you."

Sam tossed her fork down, sparing her marred pile of mashed potatoes. "Who is it?"

"It's a police officer from Amity Park."

Sam froze, violet eyes going wide. "A what?"

"Officer Cunningham, I believe. I figure it's something concerning your emancipation." Sam got up mutely knowing instantly that it couldn't be that. If it were something along those lines it would be Bryce or her parents lawyer contacting her.

She stepped through the doorway, forcing her eyes to adjust to the darkened living room. She could her Ryan at the table asking what Emancipation meant, and Blake ask if Sam was going to jail. She took a deep breath and reached for the phone. She noticed subconsciously that her fingers were trembling. Police were right up there with Lawyers in her book. They never meant anything good. "Hello?" She cringed inwardly at the hitch in her voice.

"Miss Manson?"

Sam took a deep breath. "This is she."

"My name's Officer Cunningham. I'm with the Amity Park Police Department. I hope you wouldn't mind if I ask you a few questions," a deep voice said formally.

Sam swallowed. "That's fine." _No! It's not fine_, she thought desperately. _I am moving on in my life. You're only here to make things worse._

The sound of a legal pad being flipped came from the other end of the phone. "Would it be alright if I record our conversation?" Violet eyes darted from the picture window to the darkened TV. A sense of fear closed her throat. She swallowed.

"That's fine." It was instantly followed by a clicking sound and his words suddenly sounded more distant.

"Miss Manson, would you mind telling me the last time you heard from Daniel Fenton?"

Warning bells went off in Sam's head. _Danny?_ "Uh, he sent me an email around nine-thirty last Thursday. And we talked on MSN around five or five-thirty."

"But not on Friday night?"

Sam swallowed. "No, sir. He had something to do on Friday."

The officer paused. "Did he tell you what that was?"

__

Don't lie on tape, Sam. The can use it against you. _Don't do this_. "No, officer. He didn't." She closed her eyes as the guilt washed over her. She wondered briefly what would happen if they found out that she was lying. _Too late now._

"And he hasn't tried to contact you since. Not to my knowledge." She had a gnawing feeling in her stomach that she knew what this was but she had to know. "What's happened to Danny?"

The officer sighed. "He's missing."

Sam felt the bottom drop out of her world. She dropped back onto the couch, shaking her head mutely. Her eyes burned. "No," she whispered hoarsely. Her grip on the phone slackened. The ear-piece slid down about half an inch yet she could still hear out the officers words.

"Daniel hasn't returned home since leaving Friday night, claiming he was going camping with Tucker Foley. Tucker's parents said Tucker was home all night and never contacted Danny. His parents waited till that evening and then contacted us. We've been following all possible leads but his sister said to try you. That if he was in trouble, you're the one he'd most likely turn to."

Sam felt the tears well up in her eyes. He hadn't come back from Wisconsin. A vision of Vlad staring down Danny's lifeless body entered her mind and she shoved it brutally away. He had to be okay. He just had to be. A small sob escaped her lips. He would call her or write her. He couldn't be dead. She wouldn't let him. The officer's voice drifted back into focus, "I know this must be a shock, but you need to promise me that you will call if you know anything."

Sam nodded, forgetting that the officer couldn't see her. She swallowed. "Of coarse," she choked out. It came out sounding strangled. She sat there limply, tears burning a hot trail down numb cheeks. She sat there till there came the beeping sound out of the phone. She dropped the phone as the louder blaring started. She felt a hand on her shoulder and whirled around to see Tammy. She drew back as if burnt, almost slipping off the couch.

"Sam," the older woman started cautiously. Sam stared at her. And for a moment, she despised the woman. It had been her 'parents' wishes that she be here. It wasn't right. She should be back in Amity Park, unemployed, a Casper High School sophomore, being tormented by the football jocks, sharing a room with Jazz. She should be able to wake up in the middle of the night from her nightmares and go down the hall and talk to Danny about it, rather than sitting alone in an attic three hours away listening to the sound of the creaking house foundation and the wind. "I know this is hard on you—"

Sam could have screamed a million things that went through her head. She glanced over at the door to see Ryan and Blake, fear written all over their faces at seeing an almost adult in tears. She shook her head. "You don't know anything about what I'm going through, so don't pretend you do." With that Sam bolted for the stairs. She reached the attic and slammed the door behind her. She grabbed her laptop and hit the connect button as she fell against the bed. It took a near eternity to load. Sam held her breath as MSN signed her in.

The little blue box in the corner popped up. 'No new messages'. Sam clicked it and her hotmail inbox appeared. The last message was an email from Jazz and everything was read. She jammed the refresh button. The same page loaded. She hit it again, as if in those three seconds Danny could have emailed her. The same page loaded across the screen. Sam fell limply against the headboard, tears clinging to her eyelashes making the screen appear blurred. He was gone. He was really gone.

Sam squeezed her eyes shut as if that would take away the heartbreak and the fear that was becoming overwhelming. She grabbed her left wrist and ran her finger over the scar that prominently ran across it. He was the only reason she was still here. The only reason that she had the strength to go through this and suddenly he was gone. Sam wrapped her arms around her stomach as the baby she had just discovered the gender of gave her rib a good kick. "I know," she whispered. "Mommy's upset. I wish I could tell you everything's going to be alright, but I've already done my share of lying tonight."

****

Hey. I like this chapter. Very fun to write. I know, I'm a sick twisted person. But at least it makes for interesting reading… And now a list of our sponsors: audi katia, Moody Maud, Medisti, Silverflare07, Wind Cat, Hwoarangsguardie, gothmiko, RainbowSerenity x2, Sakura Scout, Storm Sword, RavenForever, and Ryo's destiny. But was it for the girl...or was it...the MUSIC?


	16. Chapter Fifteen

**__**

Taking Over Me

Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.

Chapter Fifteen

I look in the mirror and see your face.

The fall breeze brushed tendrils of dark hair across wind-stung cheeks. Sam closed her eyes, trying to lose herself in the feeling and ignore the loss of focus she had felt over the past two days. It was her first payday. Wasn't that supposed to be exciting? All she wanted at the moment was for her to get a call and have it be Danny on the other end of the line. She'd bombed her history test today. First grade of the second quarter and she had blown it completely. The sound of the sliding glass door came from behind her and she whirled around to see Chris closing it behind him.

He walked over to the balcony and placed his hands on it, leaning slightly over the edge. "You're not going to make any friends if you spend your spare time out here."

"I don't need any new friends," Sam bit out.

Chris glanced over her face. "Wow. That's harsh, Sam."

She chewed on her bottom lip. She always did it when she was nervous. She noticed this afternoon that it was all torn up from the constant abuse over the past forty-eight hours. "I have stuff on my mind right now."

"Is that the only line you girls throw out?" Sam glared over at the older boy. "I mean seriously, Sam. I got you this great job and you won't even be civil to me." She pushed away from the balustrade and headed for the door. "Sam!" She didn't even glance back. She slammed the sliding glass door. Pausing as a wave of bitterness passed over her, she reached back and flipped the latch. It was only a moment of seconds before Blake pounced on her leg.

She gave him the universal sign for one minute and scanned the room. "Ashley!" Another library employee turned across the room. "I'm going home early! I'm taking that time I comped for you on Wednesday!"

The other girl looked confused. "If you leave early, you'll have to come in tomorrow and get your paycheck.'"

Sam shook her head already walking toward Ryan. "That's fine. Don't care at the moment." She turned her attention to her foster brothers. "Go grab your coats. We're leaving."

Blake instantly darted off, happy to get to go watch cartoons. Ryan glared defiantly up at her. "But my friend is here."

"You see him everyday at school. Go get your coat."

Green eyes narrowed. "No!"

Sam leaned down and hissed in his ear. "Ryan, I am not kidding we are going home and going home now." She gripped his shoulder. He shot her a look. "You have two minutes to tell Trey goodbye and be ready to go."

Ryan shot her a look of loathing. "I hate you."

"I have bigger problems right now," she said back, her intonation bordering on sing-song. She grabbed her coat from behind the employee desk and wished for the umpteenth time that she had her license already. She sighed facing the prospect of walking home. Blake darted over, holding up his gloves to her. She pulled them over his hand as he dutifully spread his fingers.

She glanced over at Ryan. "Come on, Ryan! Let's go!"

Both Ryan and Trey shot her a look over their shoulders. Ryan said one last thing, they both laughed, and Ryan waved as he darted away. "I wanna race the elevator!"

Sam rolled her eyes. This was becoming a daily occurrence. The boys would run down the flight of stairs as fast as they could, forcing Sam to take the elevator so they could race it. "Fine, whatever."

She pushed the call button. The two boys pulled open the door to the stairwell so the second the elevator, they could take off. Sam sighed as the elevator dinged. Sam stepped inside, pushing the first floor button as the doors slid shut. She closed her eyes and leaned back against the hand rail.. It had been a whole week since Danny's confrontation with Vlad. She swallowed the knot in her throat. It had been her idea. If he was dead, it was no one's fault but her own.

She twisted the hem of her burgundy maternity top around her finger. Her hand was shaking again. She swallowed hard and curled her hands into tight fist. Her eyes drifted shut as she stood there. The floor shuddered slightly under her feet as it came to a stop and with a slight ding the door opened. Stepping out onto the tile, Sam tugged her worn denim jacket tighter.

She was trying not to complain, but she wished having more than a week worth of clothes that didn't entirely fit right. But this was something she had given up. She had always prided herself for not needing money, but she'd never realized how much she appreciated it. It was like pulling a muscle in her shoulder, she never realized how much she used it until suddenly she couldn't anymore. It suddenly dawned on her that the boys weren't down here yet.

Sam glanced towards the stairwell as a warning went off in her head. Not good. "Guys," she called softly. She walked over to the door to the stairwell and pulled the heavy door open. Instantly the sound of screaming reached her. She recognized it instantly. "Blake?" The wailing increased in pitch, though she doubted the preschooler had heard her. "Blake!"

"Sam!" Ryan called back, panic reflecting in his voice. "He's bleeding!"

Sam started up the stairs. _Boys. They scrape a knee and they think they're dying._ She made it halfway up when the scene at the landing came apparent. Sam couldn't stop the scream that came out of her mouth. Blood leaked from the entire right half of Blake's forehead. He had his eyes clenched shut but it looked like some had slipped in. He was gasping for breath in between wails. His little dirty blonde hair clung to the sticky substance, matted against his face.

Sam didn't even remember climbing the rest of the stairs but she was suddenly close enough to touch him. She pressed the heel of her hand against his forehead fiercely, trying to stop the bleeding. Ryan stood about five steps above the landing wide-eyed, breathing quickly, seemingly on the verge of tears himself. "Ryan," Sam said sharply. He seemed to jar back to reality. "Go to the front desk and tell them to get Karren. That your brother is hurt in the stairwell." He kept staring at her, as if expecting her to magically wave her hand and make it better. "Ryan, Go!" He took of down the stairs as quickly as he could.

Sam turned to the sobbing little boy and eased him gently into her lap, as the sound of the firedoor closing at the bottom thudded through the stairwell. The blood crawled down her wrist, sending a chill down her spine at the eerie familiarity. "Shh…" She whispered into his hair. "It's alright."

He gasped out something she didn't catch. "I didn't hear you, baby doll." He seemed to calm down slightly, his breathing still ragged. He tried to pull away from her hand that was crushing his sore forehead but she put hand on the back of his skull to still him. He whimpered and Sam shushed him again. "You have to tell me what you said."

"Somebody…push…me," he choked, out still sobbing between words. Sam played with his hair as she whispered that it was alright. Ryan had probably done it by mistake. She glanced to the top of the stairs. Violet eyes went wide. Hovering about halfway up the flight in the shadows was a figure, but the thing that hit her was the glowing crimson eyes.

****

Sorry! My connection hasn't been letting me upload and I finally got a hold of my internet provider to straighten it out. Much better. Hope you enjoyed. Cheers to: cheerin4danny, Kagome51, audi katia, hannahbanana3809, gothmiko, The Good Girl, q.t a.k.a spice, Chicken Person, Mrs. Granger-Weasley, Sakura Scout, Mr. Delmont, YAY!!!x4, Spice Of Life, GMGirl, WormmonABC, Ryo's destiny, MayB, Random Reviewer, autumngold x2, Medisti, Hwoarangsguardie, Moody Maud, The Fuzy Llama, RavenForever, Silverflare07, RainbowSerenity, cheerin4danny, Wind Cat, and Aeris9919. Kudos to whoever gets 400!

P.S. - To the person who commented on baby's gender, my best friends mom is a pediatrician and she says that you can still know. I made sure and checked before that chapter went out. If it is a policy, it isn't in my state.

Postscripting my PostScript – For those who have been trying to guess _my _gender, I'm a girl. LoL. Highly amused me.

Note to WormmonABC- Nope, don't have a beta. I've been trying to catch stuff. I guess I just need to step it up.


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**__**

Taking Over Me

Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.

Chapter Sixteen

If I look deep enough.

She was officially losing her mind. Sam was sure of it. She knew what she'd seen. There had definitely seen something. But yet when she had stood and advanced toward the staircase, suddenly it was gone. It made no sense. Danny was still missing and a ghost attacked her foster brother. None of it made sense. If the other person was trying to warn Danny, why hurt Blake? Wouldn't she have been a better target and, unlike Blake, she had been alone. Sam jumped at the sudden angry hiss as the macaroni she was supposed to be fixing boiled over. With a muttered explicative, she tossed the fork to the stove and grabbed the pan's handle. She held it above the burner, counted to thirty and set it back down. She cranked down the heat, stepping back at the sound of a young voice.

"Umm…" She turned to see Ryan standing in the door way. "You said a bad word."

Sam rolled her eyes. It was nice to see that Blake's supernatural attack hadn't fazed him in the least. "Ryan, drop it."

She heard the sound of the chair scrape against the linoleum as the second-grader sat down. "Wow. You're homo-ranal."

"It's hormonal, Ryan. And I am not." _I'm just minus a best friend and going insane._ She exhaled slowly as she picked up the fork and went back to stirring pasta. She listened to the sound of the fork scraping aimlessly against the bottom of the pan. She glanced towards the door into the living room as another yell came from the bathroom and more assurances that he was fine.

Sam felt bad for poor little Blake. He had a deep scrape across most the right side of his forehead that was already starting to scab over by the time they got home, giving it a grotesque appearance. Tammy was currently trying to get the blood out of his hair, which was resulting in much pulling and yanking and a lot of screaming. Sam closed her eyes, humming a Good Charlotte song to herself in attempt to ignore everything around her.

She turned to get the milk and butter out of the fridge. "What are you coloring?"

Ryan glanced up. "It's a picture of Frog and Toad. We're reading Frog and Toad Are Friends in class."

"Do you like it," she asked, starting to unwrap the stick margarine.

She could almost see his shrug. "It's okay, I guess."

Sam bit her lip. "I think we read it in school when I was your age, but I'm not sure. That was a long—" She paused as the doorbell chimed.

"Sam, can you get that?" A muffled voice from the bathroom called.

Sam sighed as she finished draining the elbow pasta. She set the pan down on a back burner and turning of the element for the front one. Sam shuffled through the living room with just the light flowing in from the kitchen to guide her. She put a hand gently on the couch arm as she walked past. Sam walked over, hitting the porch light as she went. Sam swung open the front door. She opened her mouth to say hello and froze. The person standing outside gave her a weak smile. "What? I don't even get a 'Hello'?"

"Danny," she whispered. Sam threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She felt his arms slip around her waist lightly. They stayed like that for a moment till Sam pulled back to get a better look at him. She gasped at what she saw.

There were dark circles under his eyes and his eye lids drooped as if he could barely keep them open. But what lay behind them looked infinitely worse. Once bright blue eyes looked dull and haunted. Blood-shot lines seemed unnaturally visible. A cut ran from his cheekbone down to almost his upper lip and his cheeks looked dusty and sunken in. "I know. I could look better." He seemed to notice her stare.

"Does your family know you're here? Why didn't you call? And what happened?"

He leaned against one of the support columns for the porch roof, as if he couldn't have stayed upright without it. "No. I'm sorry. And it's a long story."

"Sam! Who is it?" She heard Tammy call from the bathroom.

Sam's eyes went wide. "Uh… It's a kid I'm doing a history project with! I totally forgot I was supposed to have him over to work on it tonight! We'll be in my room!" With that she latched onto Danny's wrist and dragged him up the living room stairs to the second floor. She couldn't help but notice that she could feel both the bones in his arm a little too well. Apparently it had been one heck of a week. She pulled threw open the door to the attic and pulled him onto the three foot by three foot landing before the stairs. She wrapped her arms around him. Sam rested her cheek against his collarbone. He smelled of burnt leaves. This time his arms didn't go around her. He tensed slightly but gave no other response. "What's happened to you?" Sam whispered in the darkness.

She couldn't see him but she felt him raise a hand and rub his hand aimlessly in little circles over her shoulder blade. "I can't stay," he whispered. There was a tightness in his voice that scared her slightly. "I have to see you one last time." His other hand drifted up and he traced her cheekbone.

Sam swallowed, shivering. Suddenly the friendly hug seemed so much more intimate. "What do you mean, 'One last time'?"

He ran a finger down her jawline lightly. "I can't see you again."

Sam felt confused and betrayed. She pulled away slightly. Her eyes were beginning to adjust to the light. "What is wrong with you?" She asked incredulously. "I get a call from the police telling me you've vanished. You don't call me for a week and then show up at my house claiming you never want to see me again," she said, her voice taking on a questioning, desperate edge. "I thought you were dead, Danny. Dead. I thought I'd never see you again," she whispered desperately. She didn't even know where she was going with this anymore. She was hormonal, tired, and frustrated and he wasn't helping.

Danny didn't seem to register any of what she threw at him. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, tucking her hair behind her right ear. "I have to go."

"Danny," she started but suddenly he was gone. He had gone intangible and just left. Sam grabbed the hand rail next to her. The hot tear leaked from her eye to cling to a moment at the top of her check. Why was she crying? She was emotional already and he was playing these games with her. "I'll see you again," she said softly, hoping he was still there only invisible. "God help me, I'll see you again if it's the last thing I do."

At the top of the stairs, a fifteen-year-old ghost swallowed hard. He squeezed now crimson eyes shut. He didn't want to admit it to himself but if he saw her again, it would be the last thing she did.

****

Hey! Wondering where Danny was all week? Tune in next chapter. Thanks to the great: Cooperstar and Blink, gothmiko, pinkXfairie, The Fuzy Llama, Samster The Hamster, q.t a.k.a spice, cheerin4danny, autumngold, Mr. Delmont, Chicken Person, Random Reviewer, Ryo's destiny, Sakura Scout, MayB, RavenForever, Medisti, Nakira Ayame Outsuno, RainbowSerenity, Kagome51, The Good Girl, WormmonABC, Moody Maud, Hwoarangsguardie, Silverflare07, and Mrs. Granger-Weasley. You Rock! You Rock OUT LOUD!

Note: This chapter is going out to Silverflare07 for being Review 400!


	18. Chapter Seventeen

****

Taking Over Me

Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.

Chapter Seventeen

So many things inside that are just like you are taking over.

Why did this all have to be this hard? Danny hit his head against the side of the tree and slid down into the dying grass and scattered yellow maple leaves. He wished he had never gone to see Vlad, wished one of his powers would enable him to jump back in time and change things. But they didn't. He was just as helpless as anyone else, probably more-so. It was ironic in a strange way, the boy who spent his entire freshman year wishing he didn't have powers and could fit in now craved them back.

He could barely touch his powers. Any extended use and he lost control. For some reason when he had arrived home Saturday morning and crept silently through the door just the sound of his parents good-natured arguing over the circuitry of a new invention brought flooding back everything Vlad had said. But the words that stayed hauntingly with him were that his dad had hit his mom. His dad had watched her throw her life away and really hadn't cared in the least.

For some reason Danny couldn't bring himself to face them. It all brought back that early august night he had told his parents. His mother had been concerned and seemed to know exactly what he was talking about and exactly what he'd been through. His dad just sat there looking concerned, almost distant. It hadn't seemed like anything at the time but in hindsight he wondered why it hadn't hit him. His mother had been the one who had been all about supporting Sam all along. He'd always chalked that up to his father just being too obsessive to notice things that didn't effect his work. Now he wondered if there was more to the story.

He'd gone invisible just for safety's sake and floated over to look at the picture of his parents. He looked at it, really looked, for the first time. It was a picture of his parents lighting the unity candle at their wedding. He'd never noticed before how thin his mom's wrist and neck were. His gaze traveled to the ring on her finger. He squinted at it. Something didn't look quiet right. It suddenly hit him barely visible from the shadows but wrapped around the engagement ring was a piece of white yarn.

Danny almost choked. Vlad was right. His mom had been anorexic. How had he never noticed before? He suddenly felt completely lost. He didn't know his parents at all. That was why Jazz had harped on his parents to take him to Wisconsin freshman year. What a load of good it had done him. He still knew nothing about them.

His thoughts drifted back to Sam. If he could go for this long without ever seeing what was right in front of him, what signs could he have missed on her? He should have seen the suicide coming. He had known something was wrong, he should never have let her out of his sight. It was his fault. He had failed her. For all he knew she could have a relapse and hurt herself or the child at any moment, a thought that crossed his mind more times than he cared to admit. And he wouldn't do anything to stop her. Maybe he was just like his dad.

That hit a little too close to home. He viciously suppressed the thought. When that had happened to Sam, his life had gone on hold. He couldn't imagine just not notice or even worse not caring. If his dad wouldn't put his life on hold for his mom, how come he'd stopped everything for Sam? _Because you love her_. Danny's thoughts seemed to halt at the thought. Sure, he loved her. She was his best friend. He would kill the people responsible for all the pain she was going through if he ever met up with them. There was no doubt in his mind of that. So why did he feel like he was failing her somehow?

You should have let her die. Danny floated gently to the living room floor. The thought seized his conscious as a red haze spread over his thoughts, gripping him. There was no way I could have let her die, he thought desperately. _But she wanted to_. _She despised your interference, hated you for it_. The words came to him in his own voice yet Danny knew they couldn't be his own. _Kill her_.

Danny shook his head. He let his eyes slip out of focus and barely visible reflection in the picture frame caught his eye. Even though he was still invisible his image was clearly there. Crimson eyes narrowed as if knowing he was seeing this. A small smirk curved his lip, yet Danny was horrified. It was as if he was no longer in control, as if he had suddenly lost the ability to think in his own mind. _Kill her!_ No! He didn't have to do as he was told. He mentally took a deep breath and tried to change out of ghost mode. The specter laughed and suddenly Danny lost all concious thought slipping into darkness.

He awoke to find himself in an unfamiliar room that looked like it was used for storage. He managed to make himself intangible without going into ghost mode. He shuddered. He never wanted to become Danny Phantom again. He felt as if that side of himself had betrayed him. That it was helping Vlad along every step of the way. If that was how it was going to be he didn't need to be a ghost. He would deal with his own problems like any other fifteen-year-old boy would. Without ghost powers.

He wandered down the hall. It was a library. That was strange. He glanced around. How in the world could he have gotten here? He stuffed his hands in his pockets and tried to look in conspicuous. He hated trying not to be obvious. He was a horrible actor and he knew it. The important thing was finding his way out. He managed to walk by a table with today's local papers layed out on it. Danny glanced down. The Brightsburg Journal Star. So he definitely was in Dimsdale Brightsburg area. Something caused Danny to do a double take.

Beside the little picture of a partly cloudy symbol and the guide to finding sections was the date. Friday October 24! How was it a week later?!? He reeled back as if he'd been slapped. His ghost powers or whatever it was that had happened had been in control of him for over almost a week. His eyes went wide. "Sam," Danny whispered. With that the paper slipped from his hand to flutter to the floor as Danny took off, praying he hadn't done what he was afraid he must of.

Hey everyone! I know this chapter seems really short but I blame that on the lack of dialogue. Be prepared for many updates. Rainbow Serenity and I have a bet going as to whether I can finish this story before she can finish the cover for Imaginary. It's on! Anyway, thanks to: dannyandsambelongtogether, YAY!!!!x2, gothmiko, Hwoarangsguardie, Cooperstar and Blink, q.t a.k.a spice, autumngold, Sakura Scout, Chicken Person, GMGIrl, Spazbot, Samster The Hamster, The Fuzy Llama, Spice Of Life, Ryo's destiny, Spice Of Life, The Good Girl, Medisti, Silverflare07, Kagome51, MayB, Blackjewel6666, pinkXfairie, Storm Sword, RainbowSerenity, WormmonABC, Moody Maud, Mr. Delmont, RavenForever, Airie-Chan, and Mrs. Granger-Weasley. Thanks for still reading!

Kudos to Cooperstar and Blink for being review number 450!


	19. Chapter Eighteen

****

Taking Over Me

Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.

Chapter Eighteen

I believe in you.

Danny walked around the corner to see the door labeled stairway swing shut. He jogged over and pulled it open only to find two laughing boys that he recognized instantly. Blake and Ryan. He felt the same red fog as last time cloud his mind as last Friday. _They're the reason Sam left._ Danny desperately squeezed his eyes shut, backing into the wall. _They're the perfect little family that you lost her to_. He pressed himself further into the wall as if he could back right through it.

He felt his heart stop and his breathing cease as he desperately tried to negate the effect. It was impossible he was losing the battle. He dug his now gloved fingers into the gaps between the bricks as if he could physically stop himself from going after them. But this time it wasn't like last time this time. He didn't black out. He was painfully aware of hovering off the ground. It was happening again. He felt even more helpless than right after the accident. Perhaps more so. Then he wasn't sure if he could ever control his powers. Now that he did, it was so much more frustrating.

The littler one was falling behind his brother, walking with his hand on the railing, which he had to reach up to do. Danny found himself suddenly hovering next to him. _Look at his tiny little neck._ Danny watched petrified as he reached out, fingers already curving to strangle the life out of the small child. No, he screamed mentally. His minds eye filled with the memory of Blake curled up head resting on Sam's shoulder staring unblinkingly at him. He couldn't do this. Blake hadn't done anything to hurt him. _He's done everything to hurt you_, the other half of him countered.

He felt his fingers brush the sides of the preschoolers neck lightly. With one last desperate attempt, Danny tried to take control of his own body. And for a precious few seconds he broke free. He did the first thing that came into his mind. He shoved the small boy away from himself. With a scream Blake tumbled down the last six steps to the landing, screaming the whole way. Ryan screamed his brother's name. It was seemed like an eternity that the young boys were sitting there but must have only been a few seconds. But it was enough, he lost his precarious grip on being in control and was forced into the background again.

A sort of malicious laughter echoed hauntingly through his mind. _They're both sitting ducks now_. The voice took on a mocking tone, and try as he may, Danny couldn't block it out. Danny's heart sank. There was nothing he could do. He almost wished he had lost consciousness like last time. That he could be spared and not have to watch this. _Because I want you to see this_, the voice whispered. The fifteen-year-old shuddered inwardly. The ghost flew down slightly closer, when something stopped him in his tracks. "Guys?" came the soft call up the stairwell.

Danny froze. _Speak of the **victim**, and she will come. _Danny screamed internally. No, he couldn't let this. Everything just seemed to freeze. He listened to the young boy screaming. "Blake!" Sam called and suddenly she was next to him on the landing. _And here's to saying goodbye. _With that the spectral flung itself down the stairs and Danny mentally threw himself against the force that he was currently losing to. In that moment he managed to stop it in its tracks.

Danny looked down to see Ryan gone, but what instantly hit him was that Sam's upturned face was staring right at him. Danny instantly turned himself invisible and flew as quickly as possible to the top of the stairwell. He phased through, not even caring if anyone saw him at the moment. Once outside he went human. His breathing instantly started again, quicker than it should have been. He slid down the wall, closing his eyes. His fingers were shaking and he felt suddenly frozen.

He couldn't let this happened. blue eyes that were a few shades darker than normal. He could have killed her. No, He _would've _killed her. That thought shook him. He would have. There was no way he could ever go ghost again. It was just endangering Sam and who knew who else. What if he killed someone else? What if he killed Sam? The thought made his skin crawl. He was supposed to be her best friend, the one who stood by her and protected her when no one else would.

And that's why he told her goodbye. He couldn't let himself hurt her. He refused to let her get hurt. If that meant never seeing her again that was a consequence he would have to live with. No matter how much the idea hurt. He felt like his life had been ripped away from him. He had lost his ghost half and now he was losing Sam. He felt like a part of him had died. The two things that his life had revolved around for the last year or so were suddenly gone. It was as if there was no safety net. He hated this feeling, but as much as he wished he could overcome it, he knew he couldn't.

He'd lost his best friend all over again. He knew that it was stupid to dwell on it. It wouldn't change a thing. Now all he could do was go back to Amity Park and hope that he could forget about her, knowing he never would. It was his job to protect her. It was a job he had been failing at miserably for a while. Now, he wouldn't be there to watch over her. All he could do was try to protect her from _him_. At the moment, he wasn't even sure if he was capable of that.

Hey! I'm hoping those of you who were confused are a little less confused now. If not, I apologize. I really am trying. For those of you who haven't heard Taking Over Me is going to be done by Sunday night. In order to do this, I am posting a chapter every three hours. So for those of you who have me on your Author Alert list, I apologize for spamming your inbox. Tanks and Gattling guns to all today's reviewers: Mrs. Granger-Weasley, autumngold, WormmonABC, pinkXfairie, Spice Of Life, YAY!!!, Kagome51, MayB, Mr.Delmont, RavenForever, Ryo's destiny, cheerin4danny, Medisti, Silverflare07, Cooperstar and Blink, Sakura Scout, Hwoarangsguardie, Moody Maud, The Fuzy Llama, gothmiko, and The Good Girl. Huggles at you all!

A Shameless Plug: I am just shouting out that everybody who hasn't read it yet, needs to go read Eaten Alive. I know it's really short but it I really enjoyed reading it so thought I'd plug it! P.S. You all need to check her out cause one of these days when Fallen gets caught up I'm co-authoring a story with her.


	20. Chapter Nineteen

**_Taking Over Me_**

**Summary:**** With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.**

**Rating:**** PG-13 for mature themes and language.**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.**

**Chapter Nineteen **

**I'll give up everything just to find you.**

She lay on her bed rubbing her stomach. Little one had decided that they were very happy with a foot in her lung. Sam sighed. There was still no word from Danny. It had been two weeks since he'd left her standing by herself, talking to air with the slim possibility he could still here her. She shivered in the early December chill and reached down and cranked up the tiny portable space heater in the attic that she had closer to her bed than she probably should. She wondered if it had snowed up in Amity Park yet.

It wasn't as if she could ask Danny. She emailed him every night, yet he still wouldn't respond. Why was he doing this to her? He suddenly disappears for a week and then shows up looking like death itself, babbling about never seeing her again. She wondered if that was how she'd sounded to Danny all those months ago on the playground. She closed her eyes remembering that day.

It was short-lived. The child inside her decided that just jamming their foot in a rib wasn't enough. They needed to give the rib a good health punt. Sam bit her lip. At least it was just one. There could have been another one with an elbow jammed into her liver. She shook her head at the thought. She silently prayed for the umpteenth time that the little infant would look like her. She was falling in love with the child despite its parentage but she didn't know what she'd do if he looked like the man she still saw in her nightmares.

She wished that the story Danny had told her wasn't a lie. She wanted it to be his child. She wanted him to be the one she could pass the whiny baby off to at two in the morning and they could argue over whom it looked more like. Instead she was facing being the only parent this child would ever know. Maybe someday she would grow up and find someone who could love them both for who they were. But right now she was facing many sleeping nights just her and a child that she wouldn't even be able to put a father for on the birth certificate.

The thought brought tears to her eyes. Jazz's words from right before the trial filtered back to her. _You deserve better, Sam_. She bitterly suppressed the thought. Of course she did but that didn't change anything. Her child deserved better. They deserved a father's last name, a dad for show and tell, deserved to be loved and have a dad come in to tuck them in after he got home from work. Sure, it was a little picturesque. But with everything she'd been through she figured she deserved a few dreams that were a little too perfect. It wasn't as if they'd ever come true anyway.

Sam glanced at the clock. It was only eight. Wow. She glanced out the already darkened window. Danny was probably out patrolling with Tuck at the moment. She bit her lip. Life just went on the same without her. A month ago that thought would have terrified her but now it was strangely comforting. Life would go on without her. No matter how bad it seemed there was still some normalcy somewhere. Despite how messed up her life had become, it could always get better. Her little one stood a chance at making it in the world, despite the horrible act that resulted in it's birth. She smiled as she rubbed the palm of her hand against the spot where the little foot was wedged in her ribs. It wouldn't be that bad.

She sat up with some effort and opened her laptop. Sam sat there for a moment watching white technical statistics load against the black screen. Suddenly she was tired of writing emails, not knowing if he was reading them. It only took her a few minutes to go down the stairs, retrieve the cordless phone, and return to the sanctuary of her room. Falling back onto her bed she, dialed the ever familiar number, area code and all. She fell back and listened to it ring. What if he wasn't home? "Hello," a familiar chipper voice came on the line.

A smile lit her face. It wasn't him but just hearing from the people she'd known since before she could tie her shoes made her feel better. "Jazz!"

The other voice brightened further, if that was possible. "Sam! How are you?"

"I'm good. How are things on your end?"

She laughed. "Just a bunch of boring finals to study for."

"Don't remind me," Sam groaned inwardly. "I haven't even started looking at them yet."

She didn't need to see her face to tell Jazz wasn't happy with that response. "Well, I'm sure you have bigger things to worry about. How far along are you now?"

"Twenty-two weeks."

She heard Jazz laugh lightly. "You sound thrilled."

"I guess. My ankles are ballooning up. Seems like every other day I have another piece of clothes that won't fit me. At least, I'm not morning sick anymore."

"I still feel terrible about making you sick."

Sam grinned. Just talking to Jazz was making this whole thing seem more manageable. "It's not your fault. It's these retarded hormones. You don't get how annoying have your brain jerked around by chemicals is."

"Sounds like fun," she commented lightly. "Want me to go get Danny?"

"Ah, could I ask a strange favor?"

There was a pause. "Sure."

Sam picked at a loose thread on the comforter on her bed. "He's not speaking to me at the moment. So can you tell him that it's Tucker on the phone."

"Did you guys have a fight or something?"

Sam sighed. She wished it was just that simple. "Sort of," she said softly, instantly falling silent.

She heard the soft noise as Jazz set the phone down. She waited for what seemed like an eternity. Suddenly there was scraping sound. "Hey, Tuck."

She swallowed hard. "Danny?"

"Sam?" She could here the shock in his voice.

"Don't hang up!" she bit out quickly, telling by his tone it was what he was about to do. She waited for him to say something but after about ten seconds passed in silence she realized two things. He wasn't hanging up and he wasn't going to talk. She sighed softly. "Please, just listen to me. I don't know what happened, but I'm sorry it did. I'm sorry I ever suggested you go see Vlad."

She paused, swallowing against the sudden knot in her throat. "I just want you to come back. If you hate me and never want to see me again I can live with that. But I want one last day with you before I have to give it up. I want you to come see me Saturday. Have your parents drive you, let Tammy and Evert know your coming. Not some quick visit before anyone notices your gone. I want one last day. Just the two of us." She swallowed hard, not knowing where it was coming from. But now that he was on the other end of the line it just came spilling out. She couldn't let it end like this. "Please," she breathed.

She stood there silence stretching between them. She didn't care that it was long distance. She just needed him to say something. She bit her lip, holding her breath, just praying he would respond. "I'll see you Saturday," came the hoarse reply. Then with a click the line went dead.

**Hey. I knew this would happen! The second I go about trying to finish this story, my computer goes down. Just my luck. I am camping out at the local college for three days. Literally. It's very sad. But I will finish it! Thanks to my awesome THREE reviewers: Moody Maud, RavenForever and Mrs. Granger-Weasley. So they are kewl and the rest of you are loam!**


	21. Chapter Twenty

_**Taking Over Me**_

**Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.**

**Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.**

**Chapter Twenty**

**I have to be with you.**

Danny rang the doorbell. He couldn't believe he was here. If he was completely honest with himself he didn't know why he was here. He was flirting with disaster and he never did have the greatest luck with things like this. That's why, despite what Sam asked, he hadn't told his parents where he was going. He couldn't explain to them why he wasn't excited to see Sam.

He was petrified. He wished his parents had some invention to counteract a ghost presence so he could just wire it to his brain and none of this would be an issue. All he wanted was one last decent day with her, one last good memory to look back on. But yet he had a feeling in his gut that this was going to be the end of them both. But Danny would die before he'd hurt her.

Suddenly the door opened cutting of his thoughts. Sam grinned at him. "Sorry it took me so long. You're lucky you didn't freeze."

The tips of her hair were still damp from a shower and falling in thin tendrils. He watched a strand curl loosely against her shoulder. She closed the door and walked over to turn off a movie she'd been watching. She sat slowly on the couch. She smiled and Danny couldn't help but feel worried. But yet this time there was no voice. Why wasn't there? Sam arched an eyebrow. "Are you even going to talk?"

"Sorry," he murmured shaking himself out of the daze he was in. He dropped down next to her on the couch next to her. "So how are you doing?"

She shot him a look but still had a small smile on her lips. "How do I look like I'm doing? I'm fat, sore, tired, and uncomfortable." He looked down. "I'm just kidding. I'm good. How 'bout you?"

He grimaced could be better. "Could be better."

"What's wrong?" He looked up. Violet eyes practically overflowed with concern. He suddenly felt guilty. She had enough to deal with without his petty problems. And it wasn't a big deal. What he needed to do was just enjoy the day. It would be a pretty miserable last memory if he spent the entire time dwelling on his ghost problems.

He forced a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I'm fine." He quickly picked a new subject. "So do you know what you're having yet?"

She nodded. He gazed at her expectantly. "Guess."

He rolled his eyes. "I can't guess."

"How hard can it be? There are only two possibilities," she laughed lightly.

He grinned, all thoughts of hurting her slipping from the back of his mind. For this moment, it was just him and Sam, the way it had always been. He never wanted it to end. "I'm not going to guess. Just tell me."

Her smile got wider. "It's a little boy."

"Are you sure?"

She laughed. "Positive."

He smiled right back at her. "So of course you have a name picked out?"

"I have one I like but feel free to suggest." She reached up and tucked semi-dry hair behind her ear.

He sat there for a moment. "Fred."

"Fred," she repeated questioningly raising an eyebrow.

He shrugged, actually laughing for the first time in the visit. "I dunno. I just wanted to have a suggestion and for some reason it was all I could think of."

"To bad it's not twins," she bit out sarcastically. "We could name one Fred and one Bob."

He threw an arm over the back on the coach tucking up his right knee so he could face her. "It could be twin girls."

"And what would you suggest?"

He grinned. "Pamela and Anderson."

Her jaw dropped and she swatted his arm. "That was horrible."

He laughed. He couldn't help but notice the way her lavender eyes glittered. "Oh and I supposed the name you like is that much better?"

"It is actually," she replied coyly.

He crossed his arms. "Let's hear it then."

She shock he head. Her hair slipped out from behind her ear and he felt a strange urge to tuck it back. "You'll laugh."

"I won't. I promise. Best friends honor."

She regarded him for a moment, chewing on her lower lip. When had that gone from being a uniquely Sam thing to looking incredibly irresistible? "Jacob Daniel Manson."

Danny felt his breath catch. "Daniel?"

She stared at her sock-covered feet, looking vulnerable. "I was going to name him after you but then if I actually do end up living with you it would be confusing. And 'Jacob' is growing on me." He sat there silent for a minute. "You hate it."

"No! Not at all. I just can't believe you would name him after me."

Sam blinked at him, eyebrows drawing together in confusion. "Why wouldn't I? You've gone way beyond the call of duty the past year. And if it wasn't for you neither the baby or I would be here today. It's only right."

Danny glanced out the window. _It's only right_. None of this was right! Sam shouldn't be pregnant. She shouldn't be here in Dimsdale. She should be back in Amity Park. He shouldn't be losing control of his powers. In fact, if it was only right, he wouldn't even have powers. One thing was for sure nothing about this was right.

**BOOK THREE HATES ME! I HAD TO REWRITE THIS CHAPTER THREE TIMES! HOPEFULLY THIS TIME IT WILL ACTUALLY UPLOAD LIKE IT'S SUPPOSED TO! Thanks to my reviewers this time: none, MayB, Mr. Delmont, Mrs. Granger-Weasley, Chicken Person, WormmonABC, Samster the Hamster, Daneille Phantom, Medisti x2, Moody Maud, Ryo's Destiny x2, Airie-Chan, and Random Reviewer. We're dangerously close to hitting five hundred reviews gang!**


	22. Chapter Twentyone

**_Taking Over Me_**

**Summary:**** With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.**

**Rating:**** PG-13 for mature themes and language.**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.**

**Chapter Twenty-one**

**To live, to breathe, you're taking over me.**

"You'll get pnemonia and I'll be able to say I told you so." Sam laughed at his statement and his throat closed. How could she still look cute five-months pregnant with her hair caught up in the bitter frozen wind?

She stood next to the door out onto the balcony, as if pausing before wandering to the balustrade. It was hard to believe it was six and already dark. The light from the glass sliding door gave her a surreal look. "I know. I'm only supposed to be out for about five minutes at a time. It's gotten so cold I have to have Tammy come pick me up and take me home."

"As soon as you have your baby, I'll take you home with me." He walked over and leaned against the wall next to the door to the library, hoping she'd get the subtly hint they needed to go back in.

"I still don't see why you'd want that. I mean I'll be all moody still and the baby won't sleep through the night for a while. How can you put up with that?" She pushed off the wall and walked over to the edge of the balcony and looked down.

"I've always been there for you, you know that." Danny watched her spin and lean with her back against the railing holding it on either side of her.

She arched an eyebrow. "What about in third grade when you told me I had cooties and shoved me in the mud," she said, her violet eyes glittering.

He grinned over at her. "Tucker made me do it." She laughed and for the first time during the visit he started to believe she _was_ getting better.

The sound of the door opening shattered the rare moment they were sharing. "Who's the new guy?" The older boy nodded in Danny's direction. Danny's eyes narrowed at the arrogant attitude that seamed to hang around the guy.

"Chris, This is Danny. Danny, Chris," Sam introduced gesturing vaguely.

Chris nodded. "Sam, you really need to go back in. It's cold." Danny felt a wave of anger well up inside him. Chris said it as if he was to stupid to figure that out and get her back inside.

"We were just about to." Sam said, giving Danny a small smile. She pulled her coat tighter around herself and started towards the door.

"Hey, Sam." She turned towards the senior. "You're coming to the game Thursday, right?"

She nodded. "I'm supervising Ryan and Trey Garner. Trey's older brother's on the JV team."

"Yeah, Lucas Garner. I was just wondering if you would want to go with me and some of the guys to grab a pizza afterwards?"

"She can't," Danny cut in. "Weren't you listening? She's got the boys with her." Sam shot him a look but he ignored it. His stomach churned at the idea of Sam out on a date with this creep.

The look Chris shot Danny clearly said he was lower than dirt to this guy. "She can send them home with the Garners'. Beside, I didn't ask you; I asked Sam."

Sam opened her mouth respond but before she could Danny reached out and grabbed her wrist. "She's not interested," he said as he pulled her through the door, letting it slide shut behind them.

Sam shot him a disbelieving look. "Daniel Fenton," she growled. "What did you just do?"

"It's not as if you were going to go with him."

Sam looked at him, violet eyes wide. "I don't remember asking you."

Danny opened his mouth reply but Sam spun on her heal and took off in the other direction.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Sam!" He ran down the steps in twos trying to catch up with her. "Wait!" He lunged forward and managed to grab her right elbow.

She spun on her heals. "You know what, Danny? I think it's you who needs a reality check. I'm not your girlfriend. Not now nor have I ever been. I'm free to make my own choices. I'm sorry if that bother's you." She tried wrenched her arm out of his grasp, but he held on as tight as he could.

"No!" He snapped, forcing her to look back up at his face. "I'm tired of you running from me. I'm tired of you trying to ignore the fact that we may have something more than friendship. You want some safe little high school relationship that's never going to go anywhere? Fine! Go ahead and date him. Be the happy girlfriend of a I'm-going-no-where-with-my-life jerk. I just always thought you were bigger than that, Sam. I guess I was wrong. Or maybe I just no you better than you'll ever know yourself."

"Maybe I wasn't going to go! You never gave me a chance to say anything!"

"Then why are you acting so upset?" He screamed right back.

"Maybe I want to have the freedom to decide what I want to do with my life! God knows I can't now!" She gestured vaguely to herself as she said it. He stood there silently letting that sink in. The silence stretched on for a while. She glanced at his hand. "Maybe I don't know what I want," she whispered.

"You don't want this," he said firmly. Her eyes met his and he couldn't help but notice the sparkle from earlier was gone.

She looked down, giving violet eyes a dark, hooded look. "Go home, Danny."

He dropped her elbow and drew back as if burned. "What," he whispered in disbelief.

"This is just making it worse for both of us," she said. She wrapped her arms around her swollen stomach. "Danny, we're disillusioning ourselves. Life doesn't work like this. Even when they reevaluate the case, I won't get to stay with you. I'm not letting you do this to yourself."

He swallowed, hardly daring to believe what he was hearing. "Maybe it's my choice to make."

"But that's where you're wrong, it isn't. I'm the one who has to live with this and I won't let you ruin your life like this." Sam shook her head. "Please, Danny. Just go back to Amity Park. You have a life to get back to. One with out me."

**This should have gone up last night, but I got a call from home at around eleven that they found a snake in my bedroom and I needed to go stay the night at my Grandparents who live an hour away. I am being totally serious about everything that's happening. I think God hates this story or something. But here are the people who actually like it: GetFuzzyFan04, Random Reviewer, WormmonABC, CoLdPLaYeR813, autumngold x3, The Good Girl, Danielle Phantom, Airie-chan, The Fuzy Llama, Medisti, Moody Maud, MayB, Mrs. Granger-Weasley, and Kagome51. You guys Rock Out Loud!**

**P.S. - I'm sure you all noticed that this chapter and the last one were the happy ones. And in Fallen what always happens after the happy chapter. Ie: after the happy chapter Sam got her weapon in Hello and after Happy chapter was the hearing in Imaginary…**


	23. Chapter Twentytwo

**_Taking Over Me_**

**Summary:**** With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.**

**Rating:**** PG-13 for mature themes and language.**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.**

**Chapter Twenty-two**

**I believe in you.**

It had been sixteen days since he'd left her standing there. Since she'd basically thrown away everything he'd had. But yet he couldn't hate her for what she'd done. He hated what she'd done. That he would admit. Part of him felt it was his own fault for going to her. He'd known that he had already said goodbye, going back could just hurt them but he'd done it. And they'd both gotten hurt. Behind the harsh words he could see it in her eyes. He'd hurt her. That's why she'd said them. So why didn't that knowledge make it hurt less?

But the one thing he did find himself hating was the way she'd been so upset when he'd told Chris she didn't want to go. Why would she be upset? He knew the answer to that but somehow it was just easier to pretend that he didn't. It hurt because he wanted her to not be interested. It wasn't that she was, it was the way she hadn't seemed to care either way. It hurt. Over the past year it seemed like they were drifting closer and closer to something more than friends, and every time either one dropped a hint at that, it took a few steps back.

But it really hadn't bothered him too much but up until this point there hadn't seriously been anyone else in the picture, possibly Paulina but even in the middle of his crush on the Latino girl, he had still had little moments with Sam. Tucker had joked with told them at sixth grade graduation, saying they would be dating by eighth grade graduation and engaged by their High School one. Danny hadn't known what to do or say but Sam had just laughed it off and he followed suit.

When he thought about it, everyone instantly assumed when Sam was pregnant that it was his child. In fact, _Sam_ had even asked him if it was his child. If that wasn't a blaring sign he didn't know what was. And now suddenly there was Chris. Chris Bailey was probably the biggest obstacle their 'relationship' had come up against. If Sam wasn't pregnant at the time, he could have blown it off but Sam was two years younger than the jerk and pregnant. It wasn't something normal high school seniors went after.

In fact he had no idea why Chris had gone after her in the first place. But over the past week somehow it seemed that everything could have been all right if it wasn't for Chris. And Danny decided that, was something he needed to change.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Bailey, I think your mind's been somewhere else lately." Chris shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He deserved this. He had missed dozens of easy shots at practice. Some of the worse JV players could probably have taken him on tonight.

The senior shifted his gym bag to his other shoulder. "I know, Coach. I just have a lot going on at the moment."

The gray-haired man gaze intensified. "All I'm going to say is that, it better all be taken care of before the game against Rock Ridge on Wednesday or you may find Atason playing your starting position. Understood?" The gray-eyed eighteen-year-old nodded. "Go ahead and go."

Chris trudged out of the gym into the freezing winter air. It was almost Christmas break. Finals were this week. He couldn't stand to be losing his focus like this. Chris flung open the door to his car, tossed the bag into the passenger seat. Why had he even made this deal? It was stupid. It was taking his focus away from school and the game. He turned on the car and threw it into reverse, backing up faster than he should have. He turned back around and spun out of the school parking lot.

He popped in his Nickelback CD and cranked it up as loud as his CD system and headed off towards the edge of town. He lived just on the outskirts about three miles outside of town. He slowed down and turned of onto the gravel road that led down to his house. He hit the gas petal a little harder than he should have throwing some gravel out onto the main blacktop road to Dimsdale. He was going faster than he should be but wasn't worried at all about spinning out. It wasn't like he hadn't gone faster than this.

That's when it happened. Suddenly the wheel was jerked hard the other way. "What the--" But it was too late. The car spun out of control before going into the ditch. There was a sickening crunch as the car hit plowed into a sycamore that stood at the bank. The sound of tearing metal and shattering glass tore through the night. The blonde head fell limply against the steering wheel with a sickening crack. Blood poured from his temple, oozing a slow path down the wheel. Grey eyes were shut. And the whole scene was eerily quiet.

The figure of a garnet eyed specter appeared grinning maliciously in the passenger seat. "Now, wasn't that fun?" He laughed, the sound chilling. He reached out and picked up the older teen's head in his gloved hands. Holding the limp face in one hand, he laid two fingers against the side of the eighteen-year-olds neck. He didn't feel anything. The blood leaked down over the blonde's cheekbone to stain the stark white glove. The white-haired figure tossed the limp head back against the wheel. He then turned and gazed out the windshield. The glass was almost entirely gone on the left half but on the right it was so shattered it was almost opaque. Suddenly he glanced back to the limp figure. A demonic grin spread slowly across the darkened face. And with that he disappeared again.

**Is that plot, I smell? I wouldn't know. It's been so long…Just kidding. Note to self: don't make ghost hybrids mad. Well I hope you liked it. Here's to the people who have reviewed in the past few hours: Mrs. Granger-Weasley, Ryo's destiny x2, cheerin4danny, WormmonABC, Moody Maud, q.t a.k.a spice, Spice of Life x4, Chibi Millenia Phantom, Random Reviewer, The Good Girl, Danielle Phantom, and Airie-Chan. Hope you guys aren't getting lost!**

**P.S. If all this doesn't make sense that's alright. Alot of this is set-up for books five and six.**


	24. Chapter Twentythree

**_Taking Over Me_**

**Summary:**** With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.**

**Rating:**** PG-13 for mature themes and language.**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.**

**Chapter Twenty-three**

**I'll give up everything just to find you.**

Sam put the keys in the ignition and carefully started the van. She grinned. She couldn't believe it. She finally had her license. She was sixteen. She wished she'd been back in Amity Park so she could have a birthday party. But she couldn't. Her birthday had been okay. She had gotten a chocolate cake that Tammy made. Her and Everett had gotten her a

Blake had made her a beautiful play dough person and a picture of a tree. She had them both proudly displayed on her dresser in the attic. Ryan had had saved two dollar allowance for the past few weeks and got her a cheap little ring at Mega Mart, but she loved it all the same. It was a silver-tone setting with an amethyst with a tiny piece of cubic zirconium on each side. But somehow this little eight dollar ring was worth more to her than the hundred dollar ring her parents had given her for turning thirteen. That ring was meant to be showy; it hadn't meant anything to them. In fact, Sam had never taken it out of the ring box. Ryan had sacrificed his allowance for a whole month to get her the ring and he had picked it out himself.

She twisted it on her finger before backing out carefully. Until she found out if the boys counted as family, she couldn't get stopped. With that stupid 'one passenger with exception of family' law looming over her head, she couldn't get caught with more than one person in her car. It didn't really matter anyway. She reached over and shifted the van into drive. She couldn't believe that she got the van for tonight. And the boys were actually keeping the noise level below ear-piercing for once. Could life get much better?

"So," Ryan started, leaning forward from the middle seat in the van. "Has your _boyfriend_ called you yet?"

Sam rolled violet eyes. "Danny is _not_ my boyfriend!"

Ryan puckered up and started making over-done kissing noises that would have been worthy of a 1960's Mickey and Minnie Mouse cartoon. Sam sighed as she looked both ways before pulling out of the library parking lot. Blake was sitting in his car seat making up a song as he went along, just sort of singing softly to himself in a none-sense kind of way. Sam smiled. This is what she had to look forward to with Jacob. Suddenly it didn't seem that bad. She didn't know who she could have ever imagined giving him up.

She lost herself in a thought train about the baby. It wouldn't be that bad. When she was re-evaluated she would either continue living with the Carters or go back to stay with Danny. Either way she wouldn't be doing this alone. Jack, Maddie, and Jazz had sent her a birthday card, Danny hadn't sent her one. She couldn't say she could blame him. Lying in bed Saturday night, she couldn't believe how cold she was with him.

She hadn't meant to snap. Her freedom over the past six months had kept getting smaller and smaller. She was loosing control over her life. In that split second Danny had stepped up and challenged Chris, she got scared. Then when he'd latched onto her arm, it brought back the feeling of being helpless against the monsters who'd raped her. Feeling cornered, she'd lashed out. She knew with everything in her that Danny would never hurt her but it was like a reflex she couldn't help but feel.

She turned into the driveway, pushing away the thoughts as she turned off the engine and tuned into the boys arguing. She turned around leaning over and unfastened Blake from his car seat. He hopped out all too willingly and darted off after Ryan toward the front door. Sam followed a little more slowly. Ryan twisted the knob, making a face. "It's locked." A funny feeling settled in Sam's stomach. Everett and Tammy should both be home by now. She walked over and dropped her book bag. Unzipping a smaller front pocket she pulled out a house key. Shouldering her bag once again, she unlocked the door.

All three gasped at the sight in front of them. "Somebody trashed our house," Ryan said. Sam looked around at the destroyed living room. The heavy weight in her stomach increased tenfold. She had a really bad feeling about this.

"You two _stay here_," she said. And with that Sam started into the house. She walked further in. She swallowed hard. She walked slowly forward. Her eyes then caught a sight that she didn't want to see. A dark stain that she couldn't make out in the darkness marred the off-white couch. Please don't be blood, Sam thought desperately. She took two steps towards it and suddenly a crunching, almost musical sound came. Sam let out a strangled scream startling both the boys into screaming as well.

A quick glance down showed the glass from the picture window scattered all over the floor. Sam swallowed hard. "It's okay, guys. I just scared myself." They didn't say anything but she heard Blake give a small frightened whimper. She walked over to the coach, the sound of broken glass under her feat seeming overly loud. Sam put her fingers gently against the stain. She lifted them closer to her face and looked at them. The sight of the garnet liquid and the faint metallic smell told her all she needed to know. Her stomach churned.

Sam dropped her hand to her side, willing herself to forget the sticky substance clinging to her fingers. She slowly skirted the coach. Blood pounded in her ears, seeming unearthly loud. Her heart pounded painfully against her ribs. She glanced down again. Lying on the floor in a puddle of crimson was Tammy and Everett. Sam screamed loudly this time. Her breath quickened as she began stepping backwards. She was only vaguely aware of the boys at the door screaming at her, asking what was wrong. She backed up a few more steps shaking her head mutely.

Suddenly, two gloved hands curled around both her wrist and she was pulled hard against an unnaturally cold figure. "There not dead," hissed the voice in her ear, yet there was no breath against her check. Sam's eyes went wide, placing the voice instantly. "At least not yet."

**Another chapter complete. Yay. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. Thanks to my reviewers this time: q.t a.k.a spice, The Fuzy Llama, RainbowSerenity, RavenForever, Spice of Life, none, KittenGoMoo, Hwoarangsquardie, Mr. Delmont, cheerin4danny, Sakura Scout, autumngold, Mujitsu Yume, Storm Sword, Danielle Phantom, MayB, Silverflare07, The Good Girl, Samster The Hamster, Medisti, Moody Maud, Random Reviewer, Medisti, getfuzzyfan04 x2, Chibi Millenia Phantom, and Mrs. Granger-Weasley. Yay boi!**


	25. Chapter Twentyfour

**_Taking Over Me_**

**Summary:**** With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.**

**Rating:**** PG-13 for mature themes and language.**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.**

**Chapter Twenty-four**

**I have to be with you.**

Sam froze. Her breath caught in her throat. This wasn't happening. Any moment now she would awake screaming all alone. She looked to her side to see a white gloved hand with dark red stains on them clamped onto her trembling hands. She wished she could make it go away. "Hello, Blake. Hi, Ryan," he cooed with a sickeningly false sound to his voice. Both boys stared wide eyed from the door at the figure with crimson eyes and white hair holding there sister hostage.

"Leave them out of this!" Sam screamed. She twisted her back, throwing her weight away from him. Bloodstained fingers dug into her flesh. Tears began to form at the edges of her eyes. "You aren't Danny," she hissed.

Crimson eyes regarded her. His eyes held the appearance as if he could see right through her. A shiver crawled up her spine at the look. "Who am I then?" His voice held an almost taunting edge.

Sam stopped pulling for a moment. "I don't know," she spit out. "But you're not Danny."

She yanked again, but suddenly he let go. Sam fell forward, barely getting her arms out in time to break the fall. Her hand hit a damp, sticky patch of carpet that she knew instantly was blood. She shoved herself to her feet. She turned to face him, not entirely sure where to go from here.

Crimson eyes looked her over and it was all Sam could do not to take a step backwards. "Tell you what," the phantom drawled. His gaze traveled to the doorway where the two young children were standing. "You boys like games, don't you?" Ryan's arm around Blake's shoulder visibly tightened. "Sam and I used to like games, too. So for old-time's sake, we'll play one last one." A demonic grin seeped slowly across his face. "It's called hide and go seek. It's really easy. You run for your lives and I give you till sunset."

Sam bit her lip which she knew was quivering slightly. "What makes you think we're going to play into your hands?" What happened to him? The Danny she knew would never have done this. He would have died before he hurt her. She knew that. It hurt her to think that he could possibly do this to her.

"Because I've known you since kindergarten. Better than you know yourself. You hate seeing things hurt on your account. That's why you became a vegetarian."

She shook her head. "You obviously don't know me," she hissed. "Cause if you were the Danny I knew since I was little, you wouldn't be doing this."

Something flared in his eyes for a split second and then it was gone replaced by a look that just oozed hatred. "You're not the Sam I remember either. The Sam I remember cared about me flaws and all. She wouldn't have just left me."

"I didn't leave you! I got sent away!" Sam swallowed her throat tightening as the feelings of being ripped away from everything she'd ever known resurfaced. "I died that day."

Garnet eyes met amethyst. "Maybe it would have been better for both of us if I'd let you."

Everything inside Sam went numb. She drew back, her steps shaky. She shook her head. He wanted her dead! He actually wished he hadn't saved her. In that instant, she knew that it wasn't _her _Danny. Her best friend since kindergarten was dead. There was no way he could have looked her in the eye and told her that she was nothing to him. Sam turned on her heal and darted to the door grabbing both boys and shoving them backwards. She slammed the door behind her, her mind whispering to her that it wouldn't do her much good. Danny, no _it_, could just faze through the door.

She grabbed both the boys by the shoulder and took off as fast as she could go, which wasn't easy considering the snow covering the ground and the fact that she was getting a little to far along to be running for extended periods. She pulled Ryan and Blake's small gloved hands into hers. In that moment, an eerily cold voice echoed through her mind, "Till sunset."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sam shuddered slowing to a brisk walk. She had no idea where she was going. She didn't know the town that well since she didn't go out much. She couldn't go to the library. For one, it was way too obvious. For another, she was risking other people's lives. She couldn't bring herself to do that. It was bad enough that Blake and Ryan had been dragged into this. It should have been just between her and Danny. Actually, it shouldn't be happening at all. It was all horribly wrong. She wanted to wake up back in her bed and be a freshman again. She wanted to have nothing bigger to worry about than Danny's secret and her changing feelings towards her best friend.

She didn't want to be a mom. She didn't want to be the only person left in the world that Blake and Ryan could look up to. Sam shuddered as that thought crossed her mind. What if Tammy and Everett were already dead. What would become of Blake and Ryan. She couldn't take them back to Amity Park with her. The county would probably take custody of them. They'd probably be put in foster families and split up.

She glanced down to Ryan, who was staring off into thin air, a pensive look on his face. Sam's throat closed. Her gazed dropped to there joined hands, her fingers were turning a pinkish red from the cold. She thought about putting her hands in her pockets, but she couldn't bring herself to let go of the boys' hands. At the moment they were her only tedious lifeline to sanity. Sam glanced up. It was only slightly after four-thirty but the sun was already getting low. How could it get dark so early this time of year? She pulled the boys hands. "Come on guys. We've got to hide." Strangely both still remained quiet.

Sam flashed the child on either side of her a reassuring smile and gave there hands a slight tug and pulled them towards a gateway labeled Dimsdale Municipal Cemetery.

**Hey. We're finally up to the point of prologue. So if you want to hop back and re-read it, it probably wouldn't hurt. But yeah. Hurray for all my reviewers: ****pinkXfairie**** x2, YAY!!! X6, Lady-Ashanya, RainbowSerenity x6, The Fuzy Llama, Dragonslayer257, Airie x2, lonesome K, the good girl, Kagome51, WormmonABC x2, Cooperstar and Blink x2, Ryo's Destiny x2, Wind Cat, Spice of Life, Mr. Delmont, Chicken Person, autumngold, q.t a.k.a spice, Hwoarangsguardie, Sakura Scout, getfuzzyfan04, cheerin4danny, Medisti, none, Danielle Phantom, MayB, Chibi Millenia Phantom, Samster the Hamster, and Mrs. Ganger-Weasley. This will be finished before "13" comes out.******

**Huge kudos to RainbowSerenity for being reviewer 600! I love you RS!**


	26. Chapter Twentyfive

**__**

Taking Over Me

Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.

Chapter Twenty-five

To live, to breathe, you're taking over me.

Sam heard the pop and pain shot through her neck reaching her already foggy brain. She opened her mouth to speak but could only gasp for air. Stop it, she thought desperately, but inside she knew this was it. He'd found them. She failed. She couldn't protect Blake, Ryan, or her baby. Maybe she really didn't deserve to live. Suddenly, the hand was gone from her throat and she fell limply to the ground. She couldn't have stopped herself from falling. Her cheek hit the snow but the icy blast barely registered. Her fingers must have been cold. Why couldn't she feel them anymore?

She lay there, her eyes glazing over from how cold the snow she was lying in. Little oxygen managed to make it to her barely functioning brain. Why did he let her go? She tried to pull herself up. Her neck hurt and she couldn't turn it. Her check throbbed with the cold. It hurt so much to move. She squeezed her eyes shut against the pain resting her back against the cold stone on the side of the above ground grave. She took a few breathes. Each brought a new wave of pain from her neck. She tried to imagine it wasn't hurting. She opened her eyes.

The sight that instantly met her eyes brought a scream from her. "Stop it!" She screamed. The red eyes turned to her and he grinned. He twisted the four-year-old's arm behind his back even harder. Blake gave another yell. She managed through herself at them. Danny went intangible taking Blake with him. The preschooler screamed, not knowing what to think. The ghost boy didn't look away from her as she landed in the snow. Her neck protested vehemently. Sam squeezed her eyes shut as her stomach churned against the pain. She wished it would just go away, knowing it wouldn't.

"Scared, Sammy?" the voice taunted.

Sam stiffened at the childhood nickname that only Danny, _her Danny_, ever used anymore. "Don't say that," she practically spit at him.

He dropped Blake and in an instant flew to face her, his eyes inches from her own. "Why, Sammy? Does it bother you? I thought you liked when I called you that."

Her eyes narrowed at the fake innocent expression on his face. "Go to Hell."

He pouted, backing away slightly. "I'm hurt," he said, laying his hand against his heart. Her fingers instinctively curled into fist. The demonic grin was instantly fixed back in place. He moved to her side, and slipped an arm around her shoulder. Sam tried to move her head away. The flaring pain instantly stopped the movement. "I'm sure I will," he whispered in her ear. "But if I am, I'm taking you and your pretty, little, fake family with me."

"Leave them out of this," she hissed.

He pulled away again. He floated away from her, towards both the younger boys. His back was to them, his eyes never leaving hers. "I'm afraid I can't do that," he stated in a voice that reminded her way too eerily of something Vlad would say. "I really hate who your becoming, and it's all their fault."

Sam stared at him in disbelief, her neck still throbbing. "Who _I'_ve become," she gawked. "What about what _You_'ve become. You're a monster."

He smiled, "So glad you've noticed. I was thinking you'd miss it, being that we haven't seen a lot of each other lately." Part of Sam wanted to tell him to shut up, but as long as they were bantering back and forth it gave her time to try and think of a way out of this. She swallowed. Her neck hurt again with the movement of those muscles. She cringed. He grinned. "Well, Sammy Angel. As much fun as catching up has been I believe I have some infanticide to commit." His eyes went to her swollen stomach, and her hand instinctively covered it. He grinned.

Sam took a few steps back eyes wide. He was going to kill her! He was totally, completely serious. "Do you realize how much that baby has messed up our lives?" Sam stayed silent, not completely sure what to say. "All the pain it's caused you? You can't possibly love it."

Ryan who had Blake under his arm dashed behind Sam. Both of them had been amazingly quiet. Sam could see why. You'd have to be a complete idiot to draw the white-haired teen's attention to yourself. "What if I do?" she breathed.

His eyes darkened to an almost garnet, deepening the shadows on his face and enhancing the possessed look. "What did you say?"

Sam reached back and held Blake securely behind her. "What if I do? What if I like it here? What if I'm happy? Maybe, after the past six months I deserve to be happy."

His eyes narrowed further, now just slits. Suddenly his death glare changed focus. His eyes suddenly darted to the seven-year-old standing just next to her. Faster than Sam would have believed possible, he lifted his hands and sent a red energy blast at Ryan. Sam screamed, throwing herself in front of the boy she considered a younger brother. She was unconscious before she hit the ground.

****

Hey. Another chapter. Sorry this took so long I took two weeks of to get some writing done so I could _try_ to go back to daily updates. Everybody cross your fingers! Hope you liked this chapter! We're almost done! One more chapter and prologue! Can I get a woot woot? Thanks to my awesomely awesome reviewers: Cheerin4danny, lonesome K, autumngold, Wind Cat, LittleMissMorbid, Samster The Hamster, Chicken Person, Silverflare07, audi katia, YAY!!!, Osparrow, pinkXfairie, Phasmatis of priscus dea Isis, Titansfan545, Kybo, The Fuzy Llama, Ryo's destiny, Janus-Wolf, Spice Of Life, cheerin4danny, Mrs. Granger-Weasley, Hwoarangsguardie, Sakura Scout, RainbowSerenity, Dragonslayer527, Chibi Millenia Phantom, WormmonABC, Medisti, RavenForever, MayB, Moody Maud, and Danielle Phantom. Huggles to you all!


	27. Chapter Twentysix

**__**

Taking Over Me

Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.

Chapter Twenty-six

You're taking over me.

She was floating. For the first time in over half a year she felt safe. She felt everything starting to drift gently back into focus. She was waking up. This was all a dream. She was going to wake up and everything was going to be fine. Dilated purple eyes opened, blinking against the stark whiteness of the room. The room was a blank canvas with a large window with venetian blinds and a TV attached to the walls being the only focal points. Sam knew instantly where she was and reality came crashing down upon her.

Her neck was in a brace. She tried to turn her head to look right. She couldn't. She tried to sit up and soreness through her lower abdomen. Her eyes went wide. No, she mouthed silently. No, this couldn't be happening it couldn't be happening. She'd lost him. She fell back against the pillow. A hot tear blazed a trail down her numb cheek. Suddenly she felt like she wasn't in the right body, she wasn't living the right life. This wasn't her. She had a son. She was twenty-six weeks pregnant with a healthy baby boy. She couldn't believe she'd lost him. She refused to. Her hand rested lightly against her stomach, confirming what she already knew. A dry sob passed through her lips.

She closed her eyes yet tears still squeezed through, clinging to damp lashes. She refused to believe this was happening. It couldn't be happening. How could it? She knew the answer to it instantly. The ecto-blast. There was nothing else it could have been. Her brain froze. Blake and Ryan! What happened to the boys? A thousand scenarios flashed through her mind in a heartbeat. But all of them had the same ending. He'd killed them. Sam sobbed, not even trying to fight the tears now.

She felt a hand on her forearm and her eyes flew open, terrified at who it might be. A nurse with honey colored hair smiled down at her. "So she's up," she sounded cheerful. Sam wanted to hit her but didn't have the energy to move. "How do you feel?" Sam just stared back, lilac eyes blank. The nurse looked down sympathetically. "I'm sorry." No you're not, Sam thought bitterly.

The nurse checked her IV. Up until that point Sam hadn't noticed she was on one. She lifted her hand slightly and stared at the two needless disappearing into the back of her hand. The bruised area surrounding the needles clashed with the unnatural white pallor of the rest of her hand. She closed her eyes, which still were blurred from tears. She willed herself to just die, stop breathing and be done with this. She didn't even have the energy to end it anymore. She would just lie here to fate took her like it had taken Jacob from her.

He'd never even have a tombstone. She remembered a story she'd read in junior high where they cremated aborted babies. She wondered to herself if that was real. She swallowed hard, bile rising in her throat. It couldn't be. But Sam knew she didn't want to know if it was or not. It wouldn't change anything. They were still dead. All of them were dead. The world that for the first time she'd felt safe in was all gone. Her best friend destroyed it. It still sounded so surreal. She wondered if it would ever click that Danny had brought about her baby's death.

The sound drifted in of the nurse talking to someone at the door. "You're in luck she's awake this time." Sam's eyes flew open. If they were all dead than it could only be one person. Her heart skipped a beat. Terrified eyes turned to the door. And around the corner peeked a tiny dirty blonde head. "Blake!" She screamed choking on the word.

The four-year-old ran to the bed and threw himself up onto it. Sam instantly wrapped her arms around him crying. She pulled him up so he was beside her, his head buried in his shoulder. "Sammy," he whispered. Small arms clung to her as he whispered it over and over again.

"Shh," she whispered. "It's alright. Everything's okay." It was a lie. Both of them knew it. She kissed the top of his head, wishing with all her heart she could just make it all go away like he believed she could. She swallowed. She didn't want to ask, but she had to. "Blake baby, what happened after I got hit?"

He stiffened, and she rubbed his back. "He hurt you." The little boy stopped, obviously unwilling to continue.

"I know he did," she said softly. I need to know what happened after that.

The preschoolers reply was muffled from her shoulder. "He hurt Ryan."

Sam bit her lip. She had been silently hoping that if Blake was okay, Ryan was too. "Is Ryan going to be okay?"

He shook his head against her shoulder. "Ryan is in heaven now." Sam bit her lip, her eyes losing focus with the tears. No, she breathed resting her tear-dampened cheek against her little brother. Sam was so lost in her own world she didn't catch what he said. She drew back and asked him to repeat it.

The little boy looked up. "Your friend said to tell you he was sorry."

Sam's breath caught. "What?" She choked on the simple word.

"There was this bright light and then he looked all different." The little boy looked up at her confused. "He said he was sorry. He said he loved you and he was so sorry." Sam fell back against the pillow. "He said something else, then he ran away." The little boy played nervously with the blanket covering her. "Sammy, he was crying."

Sam didn't know what to say. She didn't want to believe Danny would do this, that Danny _could _do this. "I don't know what to tell you, Blake."

"So is he a good or bad person?" Sam looked out the window. Her mind flashed back to just months before in a hospital room in Amity Park, with Danny holding her while she cried, promising everything would be okay.

She swallowed against the lump in her throat. "He's a person, Blake. He's done good things and bad things." She paused for a moment thinking of everything her and Danny had been through in high school. "There isn't a good answer to that." A day ago there would have been. A day ago Danny was her guardian angel, her protector against a cruel reality. But as always, dreams shatter and illusions fade. "I just really don't know."

****

Thus brings you to the last chapter of Taking Over Me. I know you've still got some questions though. That's what the epilogues for! Thanks to: Ryo's destiny, getfuzzyfan04, Cheerin4danny, WormmonABC, Dragonslayer527, The Good Girl, Silverflare07, Sakura Scout, CoLdPLaYeR813, MayB, Chibi Millenia Phantom, Hwoarangsguardie, The Fuzy Llama, RainbowSerenity, Moody Maud, Medisti, RavenForever, Danielle Phantom, and Mrs. Granger-Weasley. This one's for you guys!


	28. Epilogue

**__**

Taking Over Me

Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.

Epilogue

You're taking over me.

Sam watched Tammy and Everett walk two elderly grandparents over to the car. She wondered briefly which was worse, the way she had lost Jacob or the way they lost Ryan. They had memories, photos, and stories. Sam had nothing. The freezing January wind pulling at her black coat. Blake clung to her legs, cheek resting against her hip. She kept running her finger through his wind-tangled hair. He was scared stiff. He still didn't completely understand the concept that Ryan wasn't coming back. She couldn't say she blamed him, in twenty-four hours his little life had been torn to shreds. Suddenly he could see that life wasn't as safe as everyone promised it was. Sam knew the feeling.

The funeral was long over, the good-byes had been said. Yet, Sam didn't have the heart to tear the four-year-old away. Blake took two steps closer to the hole that the casket lay in. Sam stayed right with, gripping his shoulder. She was terrified he would try something to bring his brother back something that in his small pre-school mind would make perfect sense. Sam picked up the four-year-old awkwardly. He dropped his frozen cheek against her shoulder. "I miss Ryan," he whispered, as it would be like some movie where suddenly the little child says they miss someone and that person would magically appear and break into song.

Her throat closed. This wasn't a movie, and Ryan was never coming back. If only there was some gentle way to put that. "We all miss him, Blake." The silence seemed to envelop the two children. Sam put her cheek against his soft hair. It was cold but so was everything. Sam shuddered remembering the feeling of the cold, loose dirt in her fingers before she threw it onto the coffin. She suppressed it immediately, setting Blake back down.

Sam suddenly heard a footfall on the snow behind her and whirled in place. There was nothing. Sam tucked her hair behind her ear, though the frozen wind instantly pulled pieces loose again. She knew she hadn't imagined it. She scanned the small church cemetery again. Nothing. She glance back toward Blake.

__

I'm sorry, echoed hauntingly through her mind. And it was in her mind, as if someone had spoken directly to her mentally. Violet eyes widened.

"Danny?" she breathed.

Silence returned. Maybe it was all catching up with her and she was finally losing her mind. _I don't expect you to forgive me_, the familiar voice whispered.

Blake's head came up at the name. "Sam?"

She squeezed the little boy's shoulder for reassurance. "I'll be right back," she said softly.

Sam made it two steps before he latched onto her waist. "Don't leave me!" The loud cry echoed around the snow-covered trees surrounding the cemetery. The sixteen-year-old hit her knees and held him tight, brushing away tears with her thumb. The frightened child wrapped his arms around her neck, pressing himself close to her.

"Shh…Blake, it's okay." But everything wasn't okay. Even as a small child, he would be able to tell that. Sam bit her lip the events of the last week washing over her. How could a life fall apart that quickly? A dark object streaked quickly across the sky, heading north. She instantly knew what it was. He promised he'd be there for her. He promised they'd make it through this. Not only had it not gotten better, Danny was the one responsible for making it worse. She glared off at the fading figure. "Murderer," she breathed to herself.

****

I want to thank everybody for sticking with me through this book, even though it took forever compared to the first two. You guys have been super! Special Reviewing thanks to: Pandemonium Fox, Samster the Hamster, MayB, The Good Girl, Storm Sword, Chibi Mellenia Phantom, Mrs. Granger-Weasley, Medisti, Dragonslayer527, AlwaysImpatient, Sakura Scout, Hwoarangsguardie, getfuzzyfan04, RavenForever, autumngold x2, Janus-Wolf x2, Moody Maud, Danielle Phantom, and Cooperstar and Blink x2. Yay for you all!

Keep an eye open for My Immortal!

.Danni-2005.


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